Kingdom Leadership and the Future of the Church
We’ve been talking a lot in our house church about what the future looks like. What does it mean to be a church made up of more than one house church? What does leadership look like in an environment like this?
So this morning I ran across a post by Len at Next Reformation that captures some of the spirit of what I believe Kingdom leadership looks like in the days ahead. Here’s the quote:
“Brian McGaffigan writes,
The job of facilitator/change agent was described by Ifor Ffowcs-Williams when he asked the question: ‘Would you like a job that offers no formal authority; a high degree of uncertainty; no regular hours; and you will need to earn respect from skeptics; be proactive when the limelight fades; work with energy drainers; lead from behind – no ego tripping. The upside of the job is that you can break patterns; cross boundaries; build bridges across your community; be a hero finder uncovering talent; make things happen through others; influence people in and beyond the cluster; satisfy your hunger for Action; and make a dent in the universe?'”
Obviously there are a lot of character qualifications and Kingdom mandates left out of this description. But if you marry the kind of person Scripture says should lead with these characteristics, I think you get a much clearer picture of what Kingdom leaders look like.
What about you? What would you add to this list? How is this different than leaders you see in the world?
Photo Credit: Desert Leader by Hamed Saber
Food For Thought: Thirty Days To Greater Fruitfulness Week 2
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 never knew that blogging every day could be so difficult. The people who do this regularly must have no other job or commitments (or they lack small children). Despite my complaining, this has actually been a good process and I’ve learned a lot about Jesus, listening, blogging, and writing. And now, on with the links.
A New Kind of Disciple Felicity Dale reposts a blog from Intentional Gatherings about a spiritual revolution taking place among young adults in the United States. It’s a must read at Simply Church.
New Generations International Newspaper Check out this excellent story at David Watson’s blog, Touchpoint, which tells the story of a miracle happening in their church planting network in Southeast Asia.
What is Organic Church This is an in-depth article between Neil Cole and Frank Viola. Each call what they are doing organic church but the result is very different. I think this interview by Keith Giles at Subversive1 is incredibly helpful. We have a lot to learn from both men.
Spiritual Family This blog looks at the shirt that has taken place as a movement-oriented house church network begins to operate as a spiritual family. House churches will never work if we don’t do both. Find more at A Holy Discontent’s Weblog.
Emerging Doubt This post is by Steve over at Movements.net. Steve brings us up to date on why much of the “Emergent Church” conversation didn’t help bring the Gospel to others like they said it would.
Thirty Days To Greater Fruitfulness, Week Two And finally, my little contribution to the internets. Check out the exploits of a man committed to listening to Jesus and obeying what he hears for 30 days.
Photo Credit: Design Probes – Food for Thought by centralasian.
Food For Thought: Thirty Days To Greater Fruitfulness
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 just finished my first week of my Thirty Days To Greater Fruitfulness challenge. I’m really excited about the results so far, but blogging every day has definitely taken a lot out of me, especially when I was already in the middle of other series. I’m also going to include a link at the bottom of every “Food For Thought” throughout this month that will direct you to a post that contains the Thirty Day Fruitfulness posts from the previous week.
An Analysis of Jim Belcher’s “Deep Church” This is a guest post by John Zens on Frank Viola’s blog Reimagining Church. John looks at the issues found in the book Deep Church that I hear repeated throughout the body of Christ but seem to be missing the point. John argues that we need to stay true to our biblical foundations in search of a “deep church.”
Discipleship within simple/organic/house churches Felicity at Simply Church blogs about a common spiritual discipline that allows mutliplying house churches to disciple new converts quickly and effectively. We’ve been using this process for a year now with some significant fruit.
Organic Discipleship @ The Jesus Virus Ross Rhodes has written a phenomenal guide to discipleship within organic communities that contains too many posts to list here individually. If you’re part of an organic church, check out “What Is Organic Discipleship,” “Organic Discipleship #1 The Place of the Bible,” “Organic Discipleship #2 The Place of Prayer,” “Organic Discipleship #3 The Bible In Community,” “Organic Discipleship #4 Prayer in Community,” and “Organic Discipleship #5 Pray for the Lost.”
Lessons Eusebius Taught Me Maurice Smith at Parousia Network Cyber Cafe reflects on his journey through Ecclesiastical History by Eusebius, the 3rd Century Christian historian. He shares eight lessons that the house church movement and the larger body of Christ can definitely benefit from.
Thirty Days To Greater Fruitfulness: Week One Check out what we’ve been doing here at this blog through out the Thirty Days To Greater Fruitfulness Challenge.
Photo Credit: Design Probes – Food for Thought by centralasian.
Cluster Map
Pursuing Glory 