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As many of you know, Thursday and Friday of this week, I had the privilege to hang with Ed Stetzer at a conference for Mississippi Baptists @ Camp Garaywa in Clinton, MS, just outside of Jackson.

This was, in part, an ‘intensive’ to launch my directed studies in missiology with Ed through Liberty Theological Seminary. I had a great time, learned a bunch, and got a big head start on my first paper re: modern missions history.

Instead of a play-by-play of each of the five sessions Ed keynoted, I thought I’d combine the larger talking points into one post – particularly those on the missional church. Enjoy…

*God is a sender by nature
*Missional means to live sent: a sent church and a sent Christian
*God uses the church to make known the manifold wisdom of Himself
*Missional does not necessarily mean contemporary
*Lack of ‘sentness’ deforms/disfigures the nature of the Gospel
*Sentness causes us not to transcend, but to recognize and engage culture
*Gospel becomes reduced to “only come” when it’s not missional
*We’ve created an artificial three-tier approach to ministry: 1) lay person, 2) professional minster, and 3) missionary
*We have lost mission to: 1) ‘clergification’, 2) cultural wars, and 3) buildings
*We’ve created the very system we loathe – an unhealthy clergy co-dependence
*We have to give ministry + mission back to the people God empowered for the ministry + mission
*Forms have driven church rather than missions
*Most churches tend to reflect old culture – those successful in last paradigm has the most difficulty in current paradigm
*A church that is incarnational is interested more in the harvest than in the barn
*Are we going to be protectors of common subcultures or missionaries?
*Irony of our subcultures: we should look similar and live differently than the world – we have looked different and lived the same
*Evangelism is sharing the Gospel – missions is understanding people before we speak with them
*What is the mission? Great commandment/commission – to serve [Luke 4:18-19] and to save [Luke 19:10]
*Missiology: what focus + strategies should we use to most effectively expand the kingdom where we are sent
*The missional church is a biblically faithful, culturally relevant, and countercultural community for the Kingdom of God


As many of you know, I am pursuing a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Liberty Theological Seminary. I’m a little over halfway done and since I’ve gotten most of my required courses done, I am now entering the elective zone.

With the MA in TS @ LTS [whoa, acronym overload], you have mucho freedom to ‘create’ your particular emphasis, i.e. preaching, Biblical languages, youth, etc. I had planned on pursuing an emphasis on Christian Leadership beginning this fall, but God interrupted that plan last week with a providential opportunity.

If you’ve been following relevintage.com the last couple of years, you may have probably noticed a shift in the content. Although my passion remains for reconstructing what highly engaging and contextual worship looks like in the 21st century, I have been writing – as well as reposting others thoughts – on the larger Christological issue that worship fits within:

1) the ‘all of life’ ‘in the world, not of the world’ ‘missionary’ posture of the people of God towards an unbelieving world

and

2) how to refocus the energies of the local church to truly grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ and extend the Kingdom of God.

See an overview of my thoughts on the missional church in my blog series here: The Sent Church: A Missional People

In short, I’m talking about 21st-century missiology here. And when you talk about missiology in North America, you can’t have the conversation without talking about one of the most respected missiologists in the field, Dr. Ed Stetzer. Ed is the President of Lifeway Research and Missiologist-in-Residence @ Lifeway.

I’ve been following Ed since 2006 when I first heard him speak at a Resurgence conference @ Mars Hill in Seattle. I’ve read most of his books. And was deeply moved by the speech he gave at the 2007 SBC annual meeting [watch clip here.]

Of course, his primary job is only the tip of the iceberg. Ed is a prolific author [Compelled By Love, Breaking the Missional Code, Planting Missional Churches], visiting Professor of Research and Missiology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Visiting Research Professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, serves on the Church Services Team at the International Mission Board, is interim teaching pastor of First Baptist Church of Hendersonville, TN, is a columnist for Outreach Magazine and Catalyst Monthly, serves on the advisory council of Sermon Central and Christianity Today’s Building Church Leadership, and has planted and revitalized many churches.

Last Wednesday, I had the privilege to connect with Ed re: my master’s work and share with him my passion for missiology in the 21st century.

After much conversation with Ed, I couldn’t be more excited to share that he has graciously agreed to do two directed studies in missiology with me this fall!

One directed study will be focused on modern missions history, particularly the conciliar missions movement and the development of Missio Dei. The second directed study will be focused on modern missional theology, particularly missional church influences on contemporary missional thinkers. Both classes will comprise of reading, research, writing, and mentoring.

Also, as a part of my directed studies with Ed, he has invited me to travel with him this week to take part in a conference he is doing for the Mississippi Baptist Convention on the missional church. I’ll step away from my duties at MBU this week and hang with Ed for a few days. We will be using this as an ‘intensive’ to launch the directed studies.

Needless to say, I am humbled by this opportunity. When I think about my path to LTS, I would have never thought something like this would come out of my time there. When I think about my call to plant a missional community in the future, I am honored to be mentored under such a respected missiologist and experienced church planter and trainer. I thank the Lord for his providential ‘interruption’!

This will be one of the greatest challenges I’ve undertaken. Ed is going to work me hard. Believe me, I’ve seen the bibliography :) In fact, Ed joked that by the end of this process, I’ll probably be one of the smartest Masters level students ever in the area of missiology.

I would appreciate your prayers. The work begins today. My first paper is due in three weeks.

We interrupt this program…


extract’d

“…the lowest common denominator in all of the missional-incarnational practices is discipleship and the difficulty of discipling people in the midst of a consumerist culture. The story of the middle class in America is one of safety, security, comfort and convenience. In other words, American Christians have overwhelmingly chosen the story of the American way rather than the way of Jesus.”

-Brad Brisco from his “Alan Hirsch in New Orleans” entry from his blog, Missional Church Network


I know I just did a worship-themed “The 7″ but there have just been too many great posts in the blogosphere in the past week, I had to do another one.

So without any further ado, a non-themed “The 7.”

1. Bob Roberts sums up for us the number one missional value here. As usual, Roberts simple profundity will surprise you…

2. What connection does the Beijing Olympics and church have? If we aren’t careful, maybe way too much.

3. Contextualization, if defined and implemented correctly, is a good thing. But if it isn’t, it can be syncretism disguised as ministry, as David Fitch shows us.

4. Thabiti Anyabwile alerts us to what he thinks is a more pressing issue than in-house debates over things like The New Perspective and postmodernism. Read about it here.

5. Via Aaron Snow: “Have our church buildings, and services become our idols? Have we accidentally allowed them to replace the pursuit of deep, Biblical community with others?” Aaron challenges us to look at where we pour our energies in ministry in his post, “”‘All Mixed Up, Don’t Know What To Do’ – Man’s Expectations Have Crippled the Growth of The Kingdom”

6. Should we pay pastors? In light of the missional conversation taking place re: tent-making, bi-vocational ministry, de-centralized leadership, etc., Bob Hyatt takes on this hop topic in many ministry circles.

7. And finally, Dan Kimball pushes back on Christian critics regarding what being a missionary looks like in our culture. In many ways, Kimball is reacting against the opposite of syncretism, which is sectarianism – when you love God but not your neighbor.

Also, check out this video from the forthcomingThey Like Jesus But Not The Church DVD curriculum from Zondervan, which shows Kimball in full ‘missionary’ mode:


“Is it wrong or less spiritual to meet the needs of Christians who perhaps aren’t growing at other churches, who can move to the next level with Christ under the shepherding of a different church? Sure, this is important. If this is the goal of your church, fine. But be careful about calling this ‘growth.’ Churches can make a difference in some way with some Christians, but it’s unlikely they’re making a dent in culture by reaching the unreached or helping the truly disenfranchised.

…the death of so many churches is creating a feeder system for what some may call relevant or visionary or emergent churches. It is good that we are ‘rechurching’ America, but we also need to realize that when the feeder churches die off, everyone will feel the paucity of churchgoers. If we don’t focus on the ‘brand spanking new’ conversion of people, neighborhoods, and cities, in just a few short years, we’ll be going to refurbished church buildings…”

-from The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay


Steve McCoy has been running a great concept on his blog over the last month. He asks us the reader for their “Top 5 Books” on a particular topic, i.e. their top 5 books on parenting, marriage, suffering, etc. I’m a big book guy so I love seeing what has informed others on issues related to their Christian worldview.

Yesterday’s subject: the top 5 books that changed your mind about ministry/doctrine. I thought I’d share with you my five:

1. The Emerging Church – Dan Kimball

Back in 2003, this book set me on my deconstruction/reconstruction of what the church should be about in the 21st century…

2. SoulTsunami – Leonard Sweet

Providentially led to soon after The Emerging Church. Turned me into a futurist. Never been the same…

3. Tie: The Shaping of Things To Come – Alan Hirsch/Michael Frost & Total Church – Steve Timmis/Tim Chester

Set me on my current spiritual formation and ministry philosophy continuum regarding “missional”…

4. Cheating here, but the entire Ancient-Future series by Robert Webber: Ancient-Future Faith; Ancient Future Evangelism; Ancient-Future Time; and Ancient-Future Worship.

Webber has been deeply influential. Gave me ancient roots and modern wings to my much of ministry philosophy…

5. Desiring God – John Piper

Clarified/still clarifying my life’s calling…

And, one more that I would add…

6. Chosen By God – R.C. Sproul

Not so much changed my mind, but further cemented my thoughts regarding the doctrines of grace


Starting a new thing here on the ‘ole blog: vodcasts. And to kick it off, a series on the book of Acts. And as I mention in the opening moments of the video below, I have like 28 series going on the blog. Not a great finisher. I do plan on wrapping up some of those in the near future. Really. I mean it.

I have a feeling that I might like this idea of vodcasts a lot. The only downside is you seeing my mug instead of my words. Oh well…

So here we go. Vodcast 1 on the book of Acts:


darrin patrick on elders


1. Ryan Wiskell ruminates on the ‘consequences’ of authenticity. Good stuff…

2. Here is a very practical [albeit a little corny] video on missional neighboring. How many of us see our neighborhoods as mission fields?

3. Here are three interesting entries on the rising gas prices: 1) “Will Blog for Gas”, 2) Kent Shaffer on “10 Theories on High Gas Prices and Church”, and 3) I-Monk on “Pray at the Pump: A Meditation on Jesus and Economic Discipleship.”

4. In keeping with I-Monk, he dropped another great post this week. He waxes on the pros and cons of “principle” preaching.

5. David Fairchild on the missionary movement of the church: gathering. It’s not what you think…

6. Yet another helpful taxonomy to understand the different ‘streams’ of nu-evangelicalism. Tom Sine, co-author of The New Conspirators: Creating the Future One Mustard Seed at a Time with Shane Claiborne, sees a distinctly Anabaptist accent in these new movements…

7. And finally, two stellar posts by Mark Riddle on not going to church but being the church here and here. An essential distinction in the missional church conversation…


brad briscoe on the missional church

Brad Briscoe, a church planting strategist for an network of churches in Kansas City, Kansas, recently stopped by during my “The Sent Church: A Missional People” series and mentioned an article he had written for his Baptist state convention paper. Brad gave me permission to reprint his article here. Check out his great thoughts on the continued conversation:

The term “missional” has become a popular buzz word in Southern Baptist circles over the past couple of years. Because of its frequent use, some people have assumed that “missional” is a new word. However, the term was used by Dr. Francis DuBose, former professor at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, in his book “God Who Sends” published in 1983.

Despite the fact that missional terminology has been in use for at least a quarter of a century, it is being applied today in such a wide variety of ways that many times it results in confusion. While any word is defined at least in part by the intention of the person using it, I believe there are some essential distinctives that can be identified to bring clarity and explanation to the use of the word missional. I would argue for the inclusion of three key elements to best understand what it means for a church to be missional.

The Missional Church is about the missionary nature of God and His church.

The church is a vital part of the missional conversation. However, the church is seen not as “a place where” religious goods and services are provided, but instead it is understood as the gathered and sent people of God. The Missional Church understands the purpose of the church is derived from the very nature of God.

Scripture is replete with language that speaks to the missionary nature of a Triune God. God the Father sends the Son, and God the Father and the Son sends the Spirit, and God the Father and the Son and the Spirit sends the church. In the Gospel of John alone, Jesus describes Himself more than thirty times as “one sent.” In the final climatic sending passage in John’s Gospel Jesus sees himself not only as one sent but also as one who is sending: “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21).

Therefore missional churches are those communities of Christ-followers who see the church as a missionary people sent, individually and collectively on a mission. They understand that the church does not simply do mission, instead it is mission.

The Missional Church is about the church being incarnational rather than attractional.

Those with a missional perspective no longer see the church service as the primary connecting point for those outside the church. The missional church is more concerned about sending the people in the church out among the people of the world, rather than getting the people of the world in among the people of the church. Others have described this distinction as a challenge to “go and be” as opposed to “come and see.”

Missional churches see their primary function as one of actively moving into a community to embody and enflesh the word, deed and life of Jesus into every nook and cranny. I love Eugene Peterson’s “incarnational” rendering of John 1:14 in the Message paraphrase when it says, “The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.”

The Missional Church is about actively participating in the missio Dei, or mission of God.

Many times we wrongly assume that the primary activity of God is in the church, rather than recognizing that God’s primary activity is in the world, and the church is God’s instrument sent into the world to actively participate in His redemptive mission.

As the sent, missionary people of God, the missional church understands its fundamental purpose as being rooted in God’s mission to restore and heal creation and to call people into a reconciled relationship with Himself. It is God’s mission, or missio Dei, that calls the church into existence. Or in the words of South African missiologist David Bosch; “It is not the church which undertakes mission; it is the missio Dei which constitutes the church.”


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Husband and father of four, university instructor, seminarian, church planter, and conference architect.

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