Archive - missional RSS Feed

A Sending God

August 18, 2010 in missional, Sending Church with 1 Comment

I have been studying a while about God’s movement in Scripture and how He sought out a person or people who were to be called by His name for His purposes. Following His call God would send them out to accomplish His work.

Abram was one of the first in scripture that God sought and then sent out.

Jerry Rankin states, “The global missions movement is scarcely a hundred  years old, but the task of evangelizing the nations was in God’s heart before the foundation of the world; it was expressed in God’s call to Abraham before it was set into motion in the first Christian century.”1  God chose through Abram to execute His mission plan for a people who would join Him in seeking to bring a redemptive work to all people. In Genesis 12, God extends His call to Abram to go on a journey with Him. Ron Blue writes, “Although God did not reveal the destination of Abram’s journey, He lavished on His obedient servant some incredible promises.”2

God’s covenant with Abram was to make through him a great nation of people, and through Abram all the nations of the world would be blessed (Gen 12:2-3). The covenant that God made with Abram, later renamed Abraham, is repeated in Genesis 22:18, “and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice,” to remind him that God is looking and calling a people to Himself who will take up His heartbeat and mission.

Old Testament scholar Walter Kaiser writes, The fact remains that the goal of the Old Testament was to see both Jews and Gentiles come to a saving knowledge of the Messiah who was to come. Anything less than this goal was a misunderstanding and attenuation of the plan of God. God’s eternal plan was to provide salvation for all people; it was never intended to be reserved for one special group, such as the Jews, even as an initial offer!3 Paul echoes this in the New Testament. In Romans 4:13, he identifies Abraham as the “heir of the world.” “In Galatians 3:8 he argues that the promise in Genesis 12 foreshadows the gospel going to all nations.”4

John Stott writes, “Now we are Abraham’s seed by faith, and the earth’s families will be blessed only if we go to them with the Gospel. That is God’s plain purpose.”5  The Abrahamic covenant was so important to the story of the Old Testament and the mission of God that He repeated it three times to Abraham, once to Abraham’s son Isaac (Gen 26:4), and once to his grandson Jacob (Gen. 28:14).

Who else in Old Testament do you see God seeking and then sending?

1 John Mark Terry, Ebbie Smith, and Justice Anderson, ed 31 s., Missiology: An Introduction to
the Foundations, History, and Strategies of World Missions (Nashville: Broadman and Holman Publishers,
1998), 30.


2 Ron Blue, Evangelism and Missions: Strategies for Outreach in the 21st Century (Nashville:
Word Publishing, 2001), 21.

3 Walter Kaiser, Missions in the Old Testament: 33 Israel as a Light to the Nations (Grand
Rapids: Baker Books, 2000), 10.

4 A. Scott Moreau, Gary R. Corwin, and Gary B. McGee, Introducing World Missions: A
Biblical, Historical, and Practical Survey (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004), 31.

5 Ralph D Winter and Steven C. Hawthorne, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A
Reader (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 1981), 18.

Interview with Michael Carpenter (pt.2)

August 12, 2010 in church planting, Influence, missional with 0 Comments

Yesterday, I introduced you to Michael Carpenter and Matthew’s Table. Here is the completion of our interview.

What role does Java Joe’s play in your ministry?

Most churches these days have some kind of café. Anywhere from a coffee pot in the fellowship hall to full blown coffee shops. We are not a coffee shop in a church. Our church is a coffee shop and our coffee shop is our church. In effect, Java Joe’s serves as a missional space. Alan Hirsch says that a missional space involves the creation of a third place where Christians and not-yet Christians can interact meaningfully with each other.

Church planting rests in the engagement of people in a meaningful dialogue around Jesus and spirituality in organic ways (i.e., evangelism). Java Joe’s, therefore, is a natural space for people to organically engage in discussions of meaning, spirituality, etc.  In a way, people are allowed to “belong” to our church community by becoming a regular at Java Joe’s before they believe. By “belonging” I am simply referring to giving all people, wherever they are in their life’s journey, the opportunity to find love and community so that they can encounter the transformative power of Jesus and become like him.

What has been the biggest lesson you have learned through the birth of the Matthew’s Table?

First and foremost, SLOW DOWN. We were so eager to get things moving that in a lot of ways we took on too much before we had the structure in place to facilitate discipleship and we ended up loosing some people in the process. We want our structure to be more open source rather than complex and rigid – sort of like a stake supporting a tomato plant. What I mean is, even an organic tomato plant needs the support of a stake or the fruit laying on the ground would rot. Therefore, even this organic expression of a New Testament church needs “stakes.” But, we do not want the structure to be so rigid that we are not creating space for leaders to emerge.

Secondly, church planting is HARD. I think it is easy to get all these delusions of grandeur about planting a new church, but church planting is a constant source of frustration, disappointment, and letdown. Yet at the same time it is the most rewarding thing I have ever pursued in my life.

What are you reading that is challenging you the most?

First is Michael Green’s, Evangelism in the Early Church. In this book, he seeks to appraise some the aspects of evangelism in antiquity in light of recent study. He accomplishes this by looking at evangelism theologically. Without much effort one discovers that most theologians are not concerned with evangelism and most evangelists do not concern themselves with theology. So Green sticks closely to a theological study of evangelism to help the reader understand afresh the gospel the early Christians preached, the methods they employed, the character they displayed, and the extent to which they were prepared to think their message through in light of contemporary thought patterns so that the church today may be recalled to her primary task.

Second, is David Platt’s, Radical. I am currently teaching through this book on Sundays and we are reading it together as a church. Platt’s book messes with our American assumptions about who Jesus is, what he accomplished, what he expects of his followers, and what he has sent us to do.

How did you decide to launch the Protégé Program?

I borrowed the idea from Erwin McManus and Mosaic Church in LA because for us, it wasn’t and couldn’t be about just starting one church that got bigger and bigger- it had to be a church that would plant churches that would continue to plant churches, that would continue to plant churches. And to do that we needed someway to train and send leaders of these churches. The Protégé Program is what fills this need.

We currently have one protégé serving with us – Casey Turner. Casey will be finishing up her degree in Christian Ministries at Belmont and is doing a line of one-on-one study with me on the missional nature of the church. She is currently serving as a barista at Java Joe’s where she is responsible for not only serving coffee, but building redemptive relationships with our customer base. Also, Casey will be engaging students at Cumberland University with the goal of starting a Bible study on campus this fall.

How can people get involved in Matthew’s Table and Java Joe’s?

First and foremost prayer. We need those spiritual warriors who will commit to pray for us daily. Secondly, we could use some committed followers of Jesus who could come in, embrace our vision, and serve as marketplace missionaries in our city. Third, we need financial support. While, the TBC and Nashville Association have been generous in funding our efforts, none of our pastors, including myself, receive a salary and that can make things difficult for us and anyone else who may want to join us. Furthermore, my the house we had been living in has been sold out from under us, so we had to move about 6 weeks ago and start paying rent which always takes some “creative” efforts to make each month. Lastly, a personal request. I am in desperate need of some dental work, but I have no insurance. So if someone reading this is a dentist or knows a dentist who would do some pro bono work it would be greatly appreciated.

Interview with Michael Carpenter of Matthew’s Table (pt.1)

August 11, 2010 in church planting, missional, Sending Church with 1 Comment

I would like to introduce you to Michael Carpenter, the pastor, of Matthew’s Table. The church he pastors is radically different than the other churches in Lebanon, TN., but I will let him explain what that difference looks like in reality. Michael is a leading thinker and practitioner in the area of missional engagement  of the church in its local context and the church today can learn much from what Matthew’s Table is experiencing.

How did you begin Matthew’s Table?

We began dreaming about Matthew’s Table about two years before we ever moved to TN. If one reads through the Gospels, they will find that Jesus spent a lot of time not only teaching, healing, casting out demons etc, but also simply sharing a meal with a group of people. Furthermore, many of his teachings occurred in the context of being gathered around a table. So, what we find in the stories of the Gospels, is how the lordship of Christ is not only revealed in his working or miracles or his casting out of demons, but his Lordship is also revealed in ordinary, everyday places. Nowhere else in the gospels is this more obvious than in how Jesus ate and drank and with whom he did so (ex: Matt 9:9-10).

But to answer your question, Matthew’s Table began very simply with a backyard bar-b-que with friends, neighbors, and relatives. On a June day in 2008, we cast a vision for a church community that is seeking to be a people who live Jesus centered, missional lives. The outcome being a transformational shift in perspective (faith), purpose (hope), and passion (love) evidenced in how we relate to enemies and friends, neighbors and strangers, our families and the world. Many gathered that summer day made the decision to join God’s mission through Matthew’s Table in Lebanon and the world.

What does a typical gathering of Matthew’s Table look like?

Food. Eating together is a central part to our gathering. Meals are a reminder of our common need for God and his faithful provision. The command Jesus gives in regards to worship is to remember him and his sacrifice for us through a meal. When we eat together, we commune around this truth. In doing this, we demonstrate the Gospel to each other week after week. So every time we gather together as a church community we eat and drink in remembrance of Christ – looking back to the cross and forward to his return.

Learning. For us, the Bible is the primary authority that shapes us for how we live as a community in the world. We believe that the story the Bible tells informs every aspect of our lives. Our reading of the text and preaching from the narrative each Sunday is a reflection of this value. Also, we take a very dialogical approach to preaching and teaching. So one can expect a lot of questions, answers, and questioning of answers. This kind of inquiry and reflection requires a patient, intentional process on our part.

Kids everywhere. We have a designated “kid’s korner” but children are included in every aspect of our gathering. Sometimes we have to pause until a baby stops crying or a another tattles on someone for not letting her use a crayon – typical family stuff – but Jesus did say “unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” So maybe we have something to learn from them as well. Besides, children are not only God’s gift to parents, but also the church. In other words, we all take a vested interest in each other’s children.

How did you decide on Lebanon, TN for Matthew’s Table?

The short version is that we were given my Grandmother’s house to live in after she passed away in ’08. I grew up in Lebanon, but never thought I would come back here in order to plant our church. Up until the offer on the house came about, we had been praying and seeking to go to a city in the Northeast. However, Lebanon seemed like where God wanted to send us.

In Lebanon there are a lot of churches and most are doing a great job of reaching and serving the people they are reaching and serving. But there are also some pretty big gaps. Even with all the churches, only about 25-30% of the population is showing up to church on any given Sunday.  Furthermore, Wilson County is the fastest growing county in the state with a lot of young families who like the proximity to Nashville, the great school system, and the small town feel of Lebanon.

Which One Are You?

August 4, 2010 in church planting, missional, Sending Church with 6 Comments

What is your preference for the type of church you or your family attends or would attend if they meet with a church gathering?

More Traditional

More Non-Traditional

More Organic/Missional/Incarnational

Remember, all of these are preference based. So, you are not better, more spiritual or more righteous because you prefer one over the other.

Weigh in and let me know.

What Did Jesus Do On Earth?

August 3, 2010 in Leadership, missional, Sending Church with 0 Comments

Jesus was dedicated to the mission of God, His heavenly father. Jesus told those who were seeking to kill Him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise” (John 5:19). On yet another occasion, Jesus stated that His purpose was “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Jesus spent His ministry demonstrating to His disciples how to be about His father’s activity. He told parables about seeking after lost sheep, lost coins, and lost sons (Luke 15). Jesus even sent His disciples on a trip to seek out people who were lost spiritually to tell them about His purpose in coming to earth (Luke 10:1-12). Jesus was the perfect example of being about the mission of God.

Before Jesus ascended back to heaven to be with His father, He commissioned the disciples to take on the activity of God. He commanded them to be on mission with God to reestablish the spiritual kingdom of God on the earth. The mission was and is God’s plan. The disciples would now take up the mantle of missions on the earth. Missions, as defined by Avery Willis and Henry Blackaby, “is the activity of God’s people—the church—to proclaim and to demonstrate the kingdom of God cross-culturally to the world.”

The disciples spent the rest of their lives living out God’s purpose for His followers and training others to be committed to the mission of God. God commissioned His one and only son, Jesus, to seek after His purpose in an active manner. Jesus, in turn, called each of His present and future disciples to be about the same activity and purpose He was about while He walked the earth. The commissioning recorded in Matthew 28:18- 20 gave the disciples their ultimate purpose for reestablishing the kingdom of God in the world, and that commission stands today as the clarion call for all of Jesus’ present-day followers

Is God Still Active in The World Today?

August 2, 2010 in Mission, missional with 3 Comments

God has been passionate about saving people from their sin and shame since  the time of Adam and Eve. From the moment Eve believed the lie of the serpent in Genesis 3:6 and disobeyed God’s command, until today, God has been reconciling sinful man unto Himself for the purpose of reclaiming the glory that belongs rightfully to Him (Isa 42:8). Jeff Lewis writes, “God’s passion for his name and his glory is the supreme reason for his actions in the world.” The actions of God are purposeful. Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.”2 Peter is quoted in Acts 13:36, “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers. . . .” Scripture makes clear that God is purposeful in His actions. In The Biblical Basis of Missions, Avery Willis states that God is on mission. “By mission,” Willis writes, “I mean the total redemptive purpose of God to establish his kingdom.” Since the day of rebellion in the Garden of Eden by Adam and Eve, God has been seeking actively to reestablish His kingdom here on earth. The activity and purpose of God continue today in the work of the local church. Since God is on mission, His church should be about the same activity that the heavenly Father is committed to seeing advanced.

What is the activity of God in the world today?

What are some of the evidences of God’s activity in the world today?

Raising Global Christ-Followers pt.2

July 30, 2010 in Family, Influence, missional, Sending Church with 3 Comments

I previously wrote about raising our children to be global Christians. Here is the completion of my article.

In addition to her suggestions we implemented some ideas of our own that have made a tremendous impact on our family. These suggestions have influenced our thinking about being a global Christian rather than just a North American Christian.

  1. We looked for people who were serving Christ in our community and around the world and hosted them in our home so our kids could meet them. We wanted our kids to hear God-sized stories about serving God in a context different than our own.
  2. As a family we would get involved with local outreach ministry opportunities that would expose them to living a missional life. My wife and I wanted our children to understand that ministry was more than Sunday morning.
  3. Our family has tried to make friends with people from other cultures living in the United States. When we lived in Houston, we lived on a cul-de-sac that was home to a Filipino family, a Chinese family, a Jewish single lady, and a Buddhist family. Our children learned early on that people worship differently than our family did. We would explain to our kids that the gospel was for all people, all nations, all races and tribes.
  4. We led our children to be involved in mission education in our local church. The experiences they received in our home were undergirded by the mission education they received through our children’s ministry in the local church.
  5. We made a commitment to give an annual gift to our church-wide mission offering that was taken up each Christmas. We explained that our offering was a gift that would help international missionaries accomplish the work God had called them to do. Our offering was equal to or greater than the most expensive gift(s) we would exchange during the Christmas season. This made a huge impression on our kids and us.
  6. Lastly, we made a commitment as parents to take our kids on an international mission trip before each one moved into middle school. We felt it was important to expose them to other global Christians and to expose them to what living on mission internationally was like for other followers of Christ. Our trips together have been so beneficial for our children and our family. The decision has meant much sacrifice for our family but we have never regretted our decision.

All of these activities and decisions have had a cumulative effect on our kids. There is no way for me to narrow down the list and say “this one thing” made all the difference. Keeping our children consistently exposed to global Christianity has made me a better and more well rounded follower of Christ. He has changed my thinking, living and serving in the process of leading my family. We are not perfect nor do we have raising global Christ followers figured out. I am thankful for people like the Piper’s who exposed us and mentored us to having a higher vision for raising and growing our children into global followers of Christ.

Raising Global Christ-Followers pt.1

July 29, 2010 in Family, Influence, missional, Sending Church with 2 Comments


There have been families throughout the years that my wife and I have tried to watch from afar and let them mentor us in what it means to be a Christian family. We looked for and found a family to help us develop our children into “global followers of Christ.”  When I speak about being a “global follower of Christ,” I am referring to someone who has a bigger vision and idea of what it means to follow Christ outside of the context in which they live.

One of the families that has mentored us in developing a global Christian mindset is John and Noel Piper. Noel Piper has written an article that influenced my wife and me tremendously concerning developing our children to think as a global Christian.Some of the ideas she listed in her article included subscribing to National Geographic magazine, reading missionary biographies together, putting missionary family pictures around for the family to see and pray for and teaching your children that America is not the only God-made country in the world.

What strategies are you utilizing to raise your kids to enlarge their view of global Christianity?

Part 2 tomorrow.

Paul the Missionary

July 28, 2010 in church planting, missional, Sending Church with 0 Comments

I have been reading Paul the Missionary by Eckhard J. Schnabel for the past year. Literally, it has taken me this long to work through the book and try to digest what I am reading. It has been challenging and interesting from a practical standpoint in light of the fact my family is about to move to another country and plant roots. Attempting to learn for the biblical example of the Apostle Paul has been a very rewarding endeavor.

Though I am not quite finished with the book I am wondering what other books have you found beneficial for living a “on purpose” intentional Christ-centered life in front of your neighbors and friends?

Read All About It

June 1, 2010 in Family, missional with 0 Comments

I want to introduce you to Cheryl Read.

Cheryl is a cousin to my wife Amy. Cheryl and her husband, Chris, live in Northeast Texas and have four (4) sons. Her family is an excellent example of a family who are living on mission for Jesus right in the middle of suburban U.S.A. . They are not a perfect family and she will probably kill me for posting this, but they are an ordinary family that is seeking to live out the call of Christ in their community.

It all began with a trip to Ghana several years ago. Cheryl was following what she knew was obedience to a command to go. Upon returning from Ghana she started returning yearly with people and supplies that would not only help people physically but also spiritually. She has since helped begin an organization that is active working in Ghana. If I remember correctly she has been active in Ghana for over seven years.

Cheryl also is active in a refugee ministry in the inner city of Dallas. I am so challenged in my walk by her family. The Read’s have not made being on mission a segment of their life that is lived out each summer in another country.  They are active in their Jerusalem each week.

I encourage you to go and check Cheryl’s blog and follow along with her as see seeks to be salt and light in the world she has been placed to lived and the world she chooses to go to.
Page 5 of5«12345