Barnabas File

In recent years, I have become aware of people in our congregation who have significant ministries in the community — the lawyer who volunteers with the domestic violence center, the former heart patient who spends time each week visiting heart patients and sharing insights about how to live with their disease, the busy mother who tutors at-risk children, the business person who finds himself the “chaplain” in his workplace. This is what missional Christians do; they serve in the world. These are not church sponsored activities. These are ministries they have identified and pursued. In Missional Renaissance , Reggie McNeal notes: “People don’t go to church; they are the church. They don’t bring people to church; they bring the church to people.” Wherever a believer is, there the church is present. For some reason, we have erected an artificial dividing line between “sanctioned” and “unsanctioned” ministry. The challenge for the church is to give members the permission t...

Today is the launch day for my first book from Pinnacle Leadership Press— For Such a Time as This:   Aligning Church and Leadership for Missional Ministry.   This is a very personal account that reflects my own journey to understand that the church does not have a mission but the missionary God has a church. Let me tell you first what this book is NOT: ·          It does not pretend to be a “magic bullet” that will transform your congregation overnight. ·          It does not suggest that your church throw out everything it is doing and start over. ·          It does not blame your staff for your church’s problems; likewise, it does not accuse lay leaders of dropping the ball. ·          It does not aspire to be the definitive book on missional church .So, what is For Such a Time as Thi s? · ...