Emergent Brethren

I recently was given two advance copies of Mark Batterson’s new book, Wild Goose Chaise: Reclaim the Adventure of Pursuing God.  (It is now out in stores and is a good read!)  I finished reading it on vacation… when I was mostly sleeping, eating, reading, relaxing, and reflecting on my life.  In the book, Mark made a comment that caught my attention (actually, he made lots of them, that caught my attention)… he said, “too many of us live by default rather than by design.”
 

Take a moment or two to read that again and think about it.
 

Which way are you living?  By default – just taking life as it comes – not making plans or using the gifts God has given you.   Or, by design – living out of the gifts God has given you and making an impact in the world.
 

One thing I know… we are each one created (designed by God) with different interests, gifts, abilities and when we use them, we are living into the designs God has for us.  And when we do that, life can be pretty exciting and fulfilling.
 

What would your life look like if you were living it by design?

 

Last night, while waiting for Michael Phelps to swim, we watched 43 year old Dara Torres win her first silver medal. What a race!

One of the reporters asked her what she will tell her two year old daughter about this event (assuming that the daughter won’t remember witnessing it) and Dara said….”You don’t have to put an age limit to your dreams!”

Now that’s the truth! You are never too young or two old to dream dreams and reach toward acheiving them. What are some of your dreams?

Not yet… but it soon will be!

I was offered the opportunity to receive two free copies of Mark Batterson’s new (not yet out, but on Aug. 19) book, Wild Goose Chase and blog a review of the book before August 19. The books just came today… I’ve been anxiously awaiting them and will move it to the top of my “MUST READ” list… actually I will take one on vacation next week. With today being the 13th and getting ready for vacation and the 19th just 6 days away, I am choosing to post a few helpful “one liners” from the book and will blog more about it at a later date.

Here is a summary and bio on Mark as well….

Most of us have no idea where we’re going most of the time. Perfect. “Celtic Christians had a name for the Holy Spirit–An Geadh–Glas, or ‘the Wild Goose.’ The name hints at mystery. Much like a wild goose, the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed. An element of danger, an air of unpredictability surround Him. And while the name may sound a little sacrilegious, I cannot think of a better description of what it’s like to follow the Spirit through life. I think the Celtic Christians were on to something….Most of us will have no idea where we are going most of the time. And I know that is unsettling. But circumstantial uncertainty also goes by another name: Adventure.” —from the introduction.

Author Bio:
Mark Batterson is the lead pastor of Washington, DC’s National Community Church, widely recognized as one of America’s most innovative churches. NCC meets in movie theaters at metro stops throughout the city, as well as in a church-owned coffee house near Union Station. More than seventy percent of NCC’ers are single twentysomethings who live or work on Capitol Hill. Mark is the author of the best-selling In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and a widely read blogger (www.markbatterson.com). He lives on Capitol Hill with his wife, Lora, and their three children.

One-liners…

“Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death.”

“Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention.”

“Stop repeating the past and start creating the future.”

“Stop playing not to loose and start playing to win”

” Quit putting eight foot ceilings on what God can do.”

I am sure I will blog more later… as Mark is some one that I really appreciate as an author, pastor, and blogger. I read his blog daily, have read his first book twice (In a pit with a lion on a snowy day– HIGHLY recommend it by the way!), and have attended his church twice at their Coffee Shop location in D.C.!

I know it is a rare thing here… but a GOOD thing and a thing I hope happens a LOT more!  Some good dialogue took place under the radar back in July and August… you can find it in the “Third Places” category under Jeff’s “Thanks Starbucks” post.  Jump in…   Thanks Jonathan and Mike for carrying on a bit of a conversation here…  I am interested in hearing other thoughts on the points you raise.  And when I have more time… not sure when that will be!  I will check out Jonathan’s dissertation link!

I just received a flyer in the mail, advertising a conference to help churches retain their visitors. The conference is called, “Sticky Church”, and promises to help churches “close the back door”.

Stickiness: what an interesting concept! (I first learned about it in the book, The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell.) How sticky is your church? What do you do to promote stickiness to your visitors? Once upon a time, when I was a pastor, Bring-a-Friend Sundays were very popular. I got pretty good at promoting this idea and getting the church to draw a big crowd. Sometimes, we would almost double our worship attendance for that Sunday! The church people would get excited to see such a crowd! But the following Sunday, maybe a few would come back. Within a few Sunday’s, no one was returning. Though we had an exciting day, it was depressing that we didn’t find anyone who really wanted to be a part of us.

Bring a Friend Sunday is definitely one of those “attractional” church activities. Many today are trying to discard the attractional model for evangelism by becoming missional — going out to where the unchurched are, building relationships and doing ministry.

As you engage your community, how sticky are you in moving people into your fellowship? What kinds of things are you doing?

At my insight session at Annual Conference (Engaging Our Communities with Jesus), I named some of the creative ways that congregations are using to engage their communities. Some of these creative ideas include:

♦ Community Movie Nights: Showing recently run movies that display family or Christian values and inviting the neighborhood.

♦ Websites: This is this is how people shop these days, especially younger generations. A church can put for more information onto their webpage about their church than they can a yellow pages ad. Two samples include:
> www.myglendalechurch.org: good example of blogging, telling challenging or inspiring life-stories.
> www.creeksideconnected.com: example of well laid-out site with streaming video and audio of sermons.

♦ New Church Plant Mentality: Viewing the neighborhood as if the church is a new church plant. Waynesboro congregation in Shennandoah district sent two members to the new church planting conference.

♦ Community Gardens: At least two congregations, Cincinnati and Virginia Beach, are opening their property to neighbors to plant gardens. Working together on your individual gardens is a great way to building relationships!

♦ Skateboard Park: Virginia Beach has created a safe place for neighborhood kids to skate.

♦ Tractor Show and Community Dinner: This wouldn’t work in many communities, but it works for the East Chippewa congregation!

♦ Parent’s Night Out: Fridays, 6-9pm: Waynesboro, VA.

♦ Classes for the Community: Computer, Conflict resolution, job counseling, ESL — Harrisburg First

♦ DVD Handout: East Chippewa has a professionally produced DVD to introduce their congregation to their community.

For those of you who might be interested, the insight session was video taped and will be available on DVD at no charge. On the DVD, you’ll hear other creative ideas and the stories of four congregations who are engaging their communities in vital ways and growing as a result. Just let me know. My contact info is on the “Contact Us” tab, or respond with a comment to this post.

In case your interested in some books to help your church become more “sticky”, check-out the book list at the Sticky Church website.

May your outreach efforts be blessed and sticky!

Jeff