Three Things that Hinder a Movement
I’ve been listening to a phenomenal set of interviews by Steve Addison that are part of his “Movements That Change the World” podcast. Steve is interviewing “Barney,” a missionary and church planter that has helped spark a movement in an undisclosed third world nation.
In his fourth interview, “Barney” is describing the wider context in which movements happen. Near the end of the interview, Barney talks about three different things that work their way in and distort the DNA of a church multiplication movement. Most of us would expect these things to be things like heresy or sin. What’s shocking about the things that he lists is they are things that well-intentioned people want to do for successful ministries. What does Barney say hinders movements?
- Buildings- According to Barney, church planting movements happen in all sorts of unconventional places: houses, restaurants, wherever people gather. When someone comes in and builds a building for the movement, the focus shifts from starting multiple churches in many people’s homes to getting as many people to come to the building as possible.
- External Funding- When money comes in from outside of the movement, it can cause the movement to embrace activities that in can’t sustain on its own financially. This can cause the church receiving funding to not be responsible for the resourcing of it’s own activities. Financial independence is crucial in the life of movements.
- Non-Practical Training- Probably the most seductive of the three, this typically happens when someone comes in and offers to build a bible college to train workers. The reality, though, is that this training takes people away from a more hands-on, obedience based training already happening within a movement.
Pretty interesting. Now, here’s the real question: these realities cause movements to slow in the third world. Is it possible that they hinder us as well? If so, why haven’t we noticed it before? Share your thoughts in the comment section!
Photo Credit: Social Media Patterns (Energy Minimized / No Overlap) by KentBye
Food For Thought: Summer’s Ending Edition
Every week here at Pursuing Glory I try to bring together the best posts I’ve found that will equip the end-times church to operate in her God-ordained destiny. These are the best blogs, articles, books and other resources related to our purpose here at this site. Feel free to visit, comment, and make use of the resources found at each site.
It’s painfully obvious that summer is almost over. Now we await the cold of Fall and Winter. The plus side is my office will become more usable and that may mean more time for blogging. I’ll keep my fingers crossed and let you know if that ever materializes.
Time for America to Turn Back to God
I was encouraged by this call to repentance from Bob Roberts Jr. It lacked the typical “time to take back America from the Godless” rhetoric, but still called America back to God in practical, essential ways.
God calls us to set up monuments to His work in our lives. In this post, Josh recounts the moments God has directed him in supernatural ways to work and live among the poor of the Earth.
One of the things that I’ve been hearing from the Lord is that our inability to work as a team is a hindrance to creating disciple making movements. Guy’s post is an excellent primer on what makes teams work.
It’s Not About Church Planting
I’m encouraged by the fact that more and more people are gaining this perspective. Church planting is fruitless unless it is the result of new converts coming to Jesus.
BONUS MEDIA LINK:
The Salvation Army – Lessons for Us
Lex Loizides, uber Christian historian from the New Frontiers tribe, made his conference session on the history of the Salvation Army available for download. The Salvation Army has an amazing history that should provoke us all to live a missional lifestyle and Lex’s retelling of their story is a great way to “touch the bones” of this movement.
Photo Credit: Design Probes – Food for Thought by centralasian.
Food For Thought: New Media Edition
Every week here at Pursuing Glory I try to bring together the best posts I’ve found that will equip the end-times church to operate in her God-ordained destiny. These are the best blogs, articles, books and other resources related to our purpose here at this site. Feel free to visit, comment, and make use of the resources found at each site.
I thought I would try something new this week. I’ve always meant to include other media besides blogs on our “Food for Thought” posts. It just so happens that this week there are a couple of significant contributions from the organic church world that I think are worth taking a look at. Let me know if you find any of these helpful in the comments section, and if people find them helpful I may try to find more. Enjoy!
Plant a Church in His Projects?
Kieth @ the Subversive1 blog has been tearing up the internets with a series of articles on how to minister to the poor. Alan @ The Assembling of the Church references that post in this blog and he quotes a song by LeCrae that illustrates why church planting among the homeless and poor is absolutely necessary.
Pioneering Blog #6 Living with the Awesome Factor
Shawn is a prophetic voice that has been pioneering a church in L.A. amongst the creative community there. He’s been posting at Shawnbolz’s Weblog about the difficulties of pioneering, and this post talks about the difficulty of continuing to walk in breakthough throughout our everyday lives.
Guy @ The M Blog writes about the need for continual training as we pursue the establishment of God’s Kingdom. I think continual training is a must for anyone serious about Kingdom transformation. Don’t miss the excerpt from Curtis Sergeant’s “What We Can Learn from the U.S. Marines.”
Len at Next Reformation has been thinking deeply about Ephesians chapter 4. Here he quotes various authors’ and thinkers’ thoughts on the realities found in Ephesians 4. What I love about these quotes is how they tie weakness and vulnerability together with displaying the glory of Jesus.
Starfish Files Winter 2011 Edition
Starfish Files is an e-magazine put together by the leaders of the house church movement in Canada. Don’t miss the feature article: “Repenting of Dead Works for a Great Harvest of Souls.”
Neil Cole teaches on the true place of the five ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4. I love Neil’s emphasis on Christ as the source of all the gifts. There’s a lot to be learned here.
Photo Credit: Design Probes – Food for Thought by centralasian.
Cluster Map
Pursuing Glory 