Communities on Mission to our Neighborhoods (Pt. 1)

A community is a unified body of individuals with common characteristics or interests living together within a larger society.  If community is characterized by unity due to some common thread, where do we find “community” today?  According to John Drane in After Macdonaldization, suburbanization has led to the fragmentation of communities.  Suburbs were constructed inContinue reading “Communities on Mission to our Neighborhoods (Pt. 1)”

Four Types of Small Groups

For Christmas 2010 my girlfriend Amelia gave me a book on small groups called Missional Small Groups. In one of the Chapters the author (Scott Boren) tells the story of four different small groups. Each one of these small groups represents various models that have been created for small groups. I thought it was very interestingContinue reading “Four Types of Small Groups”

Themes in Paul’s Letter to the Philippians: Koinonia

Over the next few weeks we are going to be going through Paul’s letter to the Philippians. As you probably know Philippians is a very personal letter, it almost has the tone of an encouraging chat between two friends. Nevertheless this letter does have a point, there are reasons why Paul wrote this letter (itsContinue reading “Themes in Paul’s Letter to the Philippians: Koinonia”

How is a Missional Community Different from a Bible Study?

The following is an article from Matt Carter. Its found in the Verge 2013 Booklet: _________________________________ HOW IS A MISSIONAL COMMUNITY DIFFERENT FROM A BIBLE STUDY? – Matt Carter FROM COMMUNITY GROUPS TO MISSIONAL COMMUNITIES Before, we had what was called community groups. The idea behind community groups was that they were these little smallContinue reading “How is a Missional Community Different from a Bible Study?”

Heaven and New Creation

So on Wednesday of this week I was asked by our High School pastor if I have ever preached on heaven. I thought about it for less then 1/10th of a second and said “No I have not. Why?” He let me know that they were wrapping up a series on Revelation and they unexpectedlyContinue reading “Heaven and New Creation”

Is the Gospel Offensive?

Yes…yes it is. In a few days I will be writing a review of Andy Stanley’s Deep and Wide, until then check out this quote from the book. It illustrates the tension between “going deep” and “going wide,” and it shows that you don’t have to sacrifice one for the other. You can go DeepContinue reading “Is the Gospel Offensive?”

Missiology Book Review: Creating a Missional Culture (Part 2)

So last time I did what any book review is supposed to do, I summarized the contents of the book. This time I want to talk about the book’s strengths and weaknesses. Positives A good understanding of Culture and how culture works. Its evident that he draws quite a bit of his understanding of cultureContinue reading “Missiology Book Review: Creating a Missional Culture (Part 2)”

Missiology Book Review: Creating a Missional Culture (Part 1)

A few months ago I had lunch with the author of Creating a Missional Culture, we ended up going to eat at a Thai place near my church. Being from East Hollywood, JR Woodward was used to some really good authentic Thai food, so walking into the restaurant we were having lunch at I couldContinue reading “Missiology Book Review: Creating a Missional Culture (Part 1)”

Christological and Trinitarian Missiologies (pt. 2)

Today we wrap the comparison between the missiology of Samuel Escobar and Stephen Holmes by looking at their specific theologies of mission, then we conclude by comparing and contrasting them. ——————————————————————- Samuel Escobar             Escobar begins his paper by noticing the incorrectly held assumption that Christianity is essentially a western religion.[1] Because Christianity is notContinue reading “Christological and Trinitarian Missiologies (pt. 2)”

Missiology Book Review: Churches, Cultures, and Leadership

Branson, Mark Lau and Martinez Juan F. Churches, Cultures, and Leadership. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2011. In this book Branson and Martinez offer a practical theology of congregations and ethnicities. They do this by studying churches, mission, and ethnicity from a contextual and theological point of view. They go on to look at various interculturalContinue reading “Missiology Book Review: Churches, Cultures, and Leadership”