Here is an article that is worth reading if you are a Beyond Borders thinker like myself.  Eric Swanson, of Leadership Network (and outstanding para-church thinking, equipping and catalyst organization) had this article in their recent Network Advance. It is a great help for seeing the mission effects of when churches become missional.  When churches go on mission with God, the way we look at the world, the mission of God, and our mission in life is effected.  Read and be blessed.

1) Mutuality- The future of missions will be shaped by mutuality between East and West, North and South, sending and receiving nations. Because there are now vibrant believers and thriving churches in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Eurasia, and even the Middle East, we in the West shouldn’t think of ourselves as the saving force in world missions. Churches worldwide are learning to come together.

3) Investing in leaders -Leadership is everything. Wherever good things are happening, a capable and passionate man or woman will be leading the way. Churches that are effective overseas have learned to leverage the passion of local leaders. How do you recognize good leaders who will make great partners? The most obvious sign is they are already engaged in effective ministry without any outside help.

says that even in the toughest of countries they don’t leave Jesus at the immigration booth. Jonathan told me, “When we are asked if we intend to proselytize people through our service we tell them, ‘We’re here to make Jesus known and Jesus gets known through his followers doing good’–as opposed to, ‘We are not here to get followers of Jesus.’ So far, that has worked for us.”

5) Greater financial accountability-Churches that effectively engage in global ministry are thinking differently about who, what and how they support missional engagement. The days of cutting a check and hoping for the best are rapidly disappearing. With all the needs and opportunities in the world, global missions leaders of the future are working to maximize every dollar expended on global outreach. Effective missional churches of the future support mission-critical projects that their global partners deem important. This type of giving can only come from a trusted relationship. Churches are learning never to start initiatives that will require western dollars to continue.

6) Business as mission-An emerging funding model ties business and mission together. This is more than missionaries posing as businesspeople but rather missional entrepreneurs who are starting businesses and creating jobs in the countries in which they serve.

7) Focus-There is a power in focus. On the flipside, the most frustrated pastors I interviewed were those whose churches supported scores of scattered legacy missionaries who were serving all over the map. Much of the time, these missionaries were not home-grown but rather nephews of former staff, or friends of friends, or a missionary tied to a designated gift. The often unstated missions goal was to place representatives from the church on every continent of the globe. Churches today are learning to do better by focusing on fewer places of engagement.

Technology -With every breakthrough in communication technology, there have been innovators who have exploited that technology to advance the gospel. The printing press, radio, TV, and the Internet have allowed the church to increasingly enter a world without boundaries. All around us are glimpses of churches that are discovering the power of today’s newest technology–to impact a country without ever physically visiting that country. Tech-savvy mission leaders are shrinking the world with technology.

i. William Gibson, quoted in The Economist, December 4, 2003 Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Gibson. Accessed June 20, 2009

 

 

 

 

 

Playing For Change: Song Around the World “Stand By Me” from Playing For Change on Vimeo.

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I embrace, with humility, my own fallen human nature and my proclivity to fall again and again into sin and stupidity. I would love it if I could live in relationship with people who truly, genuinely want to see and bring the best out in me.  I hope that I too can speak into and invest my life in people in such a way that I too draw out the best in others.  It was Paul’s metaphor of childbirth when he speaks of “Christ being formed in you” (Gal 4:19) that gave me a clearer picture of the maturation process we must go through.  “Forming” is a process, it is becoming.  Is Christ becoming more and more my form?

Having people in my life who love me past my fallen state and loves me through the forming process is my picture of accountability.  Let this poem I shared in my February 21, 2010 message give you a visual of for the power and beauty of an accountability relationship.

I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you.

I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me.

I love you for the part of me you bring out.

I love you for putting your hand in my heaped up heart

and passing over all the foolish weak things that you can’t help dimly see in there

And drawing out into the light all the beautiful things no one else looks quite far enough to find.

I love you because you are helping to make out of the lumber of my life  not a tavern but a temple;

out of the works of my everyday not a reproach but a song                           -Lori Croft

In this Journey, it is important to know, and identify key points, stops, items you need for the journey.  For example, when I was a bush missionary in Zambia, I had a full page check list of everything I might need for my adventurous trips (2 extra tires, plenty of water, food, light, etc).  I wouldn’t leave the house unless every item on the list was checked off.  What’s on your spiritual check list for your spiritual journey.

In January we launched the series discussing Worship as a means of exploring deeper who God in and bringing pleasure to Him with our life.  This month, Community.  No one needs to travel alone.  We were not built to travel through life alone and neither is God alone.  God, Himself, loves community.  Here are a couple of facts about God and community to help launch us on this journey…

1. God is communal in His very core and nature – Genesis 1:26, points to the Trinity of God, when He said let “us” make …

2. Man was made for community.  When God made Adam, everything was perfect, life was perfect.  It was a utopia life, yet when God made man he said it wasn’t good for him to be alone (Gen 2:18).   You know the rest of the story.  He then made woman.

3.  God manifest Himself fully when we are living and acting in community with others.  Jesus promised His anointed presence when we come in community around for His names sake (Matt 18:20).

Don’t be the classic American individualist suffering from individualism.  Run to community, live in community, value community.

I want to first  join with the co-laborers from Grace Point Church (GPC) in praying  for the work and people of Haiti that GPC members have been investing their life in for the past 7 years.  Their labor has been faithful and sacrificial throughout these years.  In my estimate, we have commissioned 35 or more members from our church to serve in Haiti.  They have helped to build Joy House, prayed over the voodoo temple, and have started  the workings of a congregation.  Thank you, John and Kay Rodgers, for being the GPC champions of the Haitians.  We stand with you as you collect supplies and return to Haiti as soon as you can to rebuild the work and lives of the Haitians you love so much.  GPC stands with you financially and in prayer.  Learn more about GPC’s work in Haiti on their blog.

On a national scale, I am thankful for the North American Mission Board’s and the International Mission Board’s disaster relief efforts that they are  engaging throughout the nation.  No one feeds or serves the least of these better in the name of Christ and in times of crisis than Southern Baptists and their Disaster Relief units.   If you would like to give to a fund that 100% will go to helping Haiti survive this crisis, consider making monetary gifts to the SBC Disaster Relief.  There are a lot of people willing to take your money to “help” in Haiti.  I would like to think it will all get to the right place and do what you intend for a gift to do.  I think we have learned from Katrina, there are those who don’t share in the same level of financial accountability as other established relief organizations.  Consider the SBC Disaster Relief  a solid choice.  This is the fund my family will be giving our donations to.

Finally, I heard an inspiring story regarding a missionary who was on the ground capturing the story of Haitian children with Compassion International.  It is an amazing story regarding the  value of life and writing your last letter.  Watch the story and consider going on the Last letter website and typing your own last letter as you live beyond borders.  It may be a very healthy exercise for us all.

Click on this link for the video and be blessed

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/34933049#34933049

The cost is great and the price is severe for many.  We have a family in our body who feel God calling them to go to some of these countries that are listed among the top 10 watch countries for persecution.  For this family to  live and share their faith in Christ will be illegal.  We, who are followers of the Most High God, must intercede for them.  As they go forward doing  His will by taking the gospel to some of the those most hostile to the message of Christ, we must pray!

See the video below as a source of information and a call to prayer.

You know the amazing thing with studying the Scriptures, you can read a text a 100 times and on the 101st time a verse or truth jump off the page and like some flashing LED lights on Time Square.  You want to ask, where have you been hiding all my life?  I had one of those LED light moments last week as I have been praying through my personal involvement in the Advent Conspiracy (worship fully, spend less, give more and love all) as a life style adjustment, not just a seasonable observance.  The verse that jumped off the page at me was Proverbs 19:17.  Though I had read the verse many times, this time my heart was more pliable.   Couple a more pliable heart with resent conversations about the malnutrition opportunities in West Africa I found the verse to be biblical confirmation that the McDaniel’s, and prayerfully GPC, would be a part of showing kindness to the poor and allow the Lord to “reward” us as the lender.  I figure God owns it all anyway, I must be willing to release what he has entrusted to me if someone else needs my resources more than I do.

“Mark,” a field representative we support through our church Global Mission Offerings, called me recently from Mali and told me of an opportunity to help be a solution to a horrific hunger problem in the country.  He told me that 38% of the children in Mali suffer from malnutrition.  The malnutrition problem is a major contributor to the fact that 25% of Malian children die before 5 years of age.  Mark spoke of going into a village and coming a across a one year old child who could hardly hold themselves up.  In the adjoining picture you see the mother holding the child steady for the photo.   At 1 year old the baby weighed 11 lbs.  Mark was able to get the child to a clinic where it was weighted and examined.  The clinicians classified the child as being in the top 3% of malnourished children in the world.  The clinic gave him some enriched peanut butter called “Pluppy Nut.”  However, pluppy nut is not readily available in Mali.  It must be imported it into the country which as you might imagine can make is cost prohibitive to developing countries for many.  GPC wants to do away with this hurdle or limitation.

It is our goal to dedicate 1/3 of Grace Points Churches Christmas offering this year to start a Pluppy Nut manufacturing plant in Mali.  It will be approximately a $20,000 investment into the country and the people of Mali that will have zero monetary return to us, but will give life, sustain life and enable many more children to have a chance to hear of the greatest love and gift of all.  This gift we celebrate this Christmas season, Jesus Christ.

See the video below and learn more about pluppy nut and the value it brings to life.

Fifty percent of my doctorate is seeking to upack and identify leading missional churches from coast to coast in America that are being missional.  You can think of missional as the lens through which you see your culture that will then influence the way you approach your ministry (my very elementary description). The culture shapes the ways and means of ministry.

I came across a good video that shows you in a glimpse what I am attempting to study in full.  It is an interview between a couple of guys that I have read their writings and had the privilege to interact with on various levels.  They are seeking to give definition to a very slippery topic.  I think they do a great job at showing the viewers the dynamic nature of and the diversity within the topic.  Plus they are so eloquent in their speech- they are good teachers.  I only wish I could communicate as clearly about the topic as they do:).

Watch and learn.

Ed Stetzer and David Fitch – a missional conversation Part One from Bill Kinnon on Vimeo.

Glocalization is the “seamless integration between the local and the global,” according to the author Bob Roberts, Pastor and catalytic leader with a holistic mission approach to Christian faith and community development.  The term “glocal,” which is the key word of this work, originated in the 1990’s from Scottish sociologist Roland Robertson.  The term was introduced to Christian circles by futurist Leonard Sweet and has since become the primary word associated with Bob Roberts.  Though Bob would like to think his single word focus is “Transformation,” he is best known for his blog site and networking association called by the same name that uses the word “Glocal.”

I finished reading Glocalization over the Labrador Sea at 37,500 feet just last week.  I read on average of 25 books a year (not all of them at such privileged altitudes).  I’ve learned that I need to do more than read and glean from the books.  I need to reflect on the books I read.  Interacting with the books is important, before I put them on my shelf like a trophy.  Making this a discipline will improve my long term retention of what I read.  One thing that I remember from a class I had with compulsive reader Dr. Howard Hendricks, or “Prof” as he is affectionately known, was not to simply read the book, but allow the book to read me.  Reflect on the books.  Take the time to relate with the book.  This is my first attempt at simple format (from a simple mind) to help me take some time after each book and reflect on it.  If you have seen a format for book reviews, that is fun and interactive, send me your suggestions.

Greatest New Thought… The Christian faith isn’t about mission, but about God’s kingdom.  Mission isn’t comprehensive.  Kingdom is a total saturation of a society.  The Christian faith is to saturate a community throughout the 8 primary domains of society.  The domains of society are Justice, Medicine, Education, Agriculture, Economics, Family, Governance, and Art.  The church must ask how well is it engaging these cultural domains, not primarily to change them first, but rather serve the culture.  We should serve the culture not to convert it, but because we are converted.  The cultural impact will happen in the life on life relationships as you first live your faith in the domains of the culture with the people of the culture.

Enlightening Quotes…

“The more of the world you see, the more of the Word you underline” (pg 25)

“Glocalization creates a massive opportunity for the church.” (pg 27)

“The long-term benefit and impact on a society is done through development rather than relief.” (pg 109)

“Anything that truly brings about change has to be going at least thirty years,”said Bob Biehl. (pg 124)

“Collaboration is the key to getting things done in the age of globalization” (pg 169).

Least Favorite Quotes…Nothing that I read y really rubbed me the wrong way.

View of the book at “30,000 feet” (my final thoughts as I consider the as an overall look)…If you pick up the book to read, I have one phrase as you launch out into it: “It gets better.”  This is not meant to sound negative, just to say that the ramp up is slow and gradual.  It is a good introduction into Bob’s philosophies and views on how Christians and churches can engage and make a lasting impact glocally.  It takes it a while before I can say it becomes a “page-turner” book.  I found myself at times pushing through to finish rather than anticipating something new and life changing in the next chapter.  It had just enough in each chapter that made me want to read a little more.

GRADE: B (A=Stop what you are doing, and go out and buy the book, B= Next time you see the book, you may want to buy you a copy and read it.  C= Take it or leave it.  D= Don’t bother.  F= save the trees next time, don’t bother reprinting)

Here is a one family that is demonstrating what crazy love looks like.  Everyone has to reevaluate life regularly and make sure their life is on the trajectory they want it to be on in the end.  Or, even more important, they are on the trejectory  God designed them for.