I have had NewChurches.Com for ten years now. Its been a labor of love... I have never made any money on the site, though I have dropped a lot into it!

Mark Driscoll

I always enjoy teaching with Mark Driscoll. This week was no exception. We did two Q&A panels, one at the Acts 29 bootcamp and one at the Convergent Conference.

It is always interesting to read how people report these things... and one blog called us "Bert and Ernie."

I'd prefer a different comparison, but I am glad to call him friend.

The folks at Dallas Theological Seminary have invited Alan Roxburgh and me to come and me to come and lead a missional church conference (along with Bob Roberts and Eric Swanson). For more info, click the nifty graphic they made just for the blog... thanks, DTS.

They are looking for good examples of missional churches to highlight at the conference. If you have suggestions, particularly near the school, please leave their name, location, and any other helpful information in comment section or email us at research@lifeway.com.

Now, for confession:

When I preached at D.T.S. chapel last fall, I joked about the Left Behind series, so I am just glad they are having me back.

I promise not to talk about eschatology...
I promise not to talk about eschatology...
I promise not to talk about eschatology...

A few days ago, I mentioned the upcoming discussion on the Emerging Church. Click here for more info and registration details.

The folks at Red Cowboy Designs have given the site a good facelift.

If it is working as I believe, the links on both sides should contain some helpful info.

Also, the regular features will now have their own new graphics.

They include:

Last week, we finalized some things related to how I will be working for and representing the International Mission Board. Jerry Rankin and I visited a minute and he started the conversation, "Aren't you working for me now?"

Yep. Sure am. The IMB has contracted with LifeWay for part of my time.

And, I am ready to help more and more of our churches be working along with Jerry toward that Great Commission. (Does that make us Jerry's kids?)

One of the forgotten "spiritual awakenings" is the Fulton Street Revival. Today is the 150th anniversary of that start of that outpouring.

If I am doing the math correctly, about 3% of the population became Christ followers during this awakening. That would be the equivalent of 10 million people becoming followers of Jesus today.

The North American Mission Board has a video about Fulton Street here.

I like to start a post with a title like that... should drive some good traffic to the site. Grin.

I wrote an article on this subject to help SBC people understand the Emerging Church. It was picked up by several non-SBC outlets and has been widely quoted, praised, and vilified. I'd probably change it a bit now. Yet, even though it was imperfect, I think it was helpful because it helped people to see that the Emerging Church has many "streams" to it.

If you search google for the three descriptors I used in the article, you would find lots of opinions on the article. (One of them leads to an article my friend Mark Driscoll wrote for the Criswell Theological Journal.) Mark liked the description I gave of the Emerging Church. And, for full disclosure, Tony Jones, head of Emergent, did not.

And, yes, I have a confession to make. I have been holding back. But, here it is... I am about to come out. Are you ready? Drumroll...

I know a little bit about the Emerging Church.

Not a lot, but just enough to make some of my friends nervous.

But, not knowing much has never kept me from being a part of a good book project. And, we have one coming up. See below.

I had the privilege of attending the SBC Executive Committee meeting this week. I think it is essential that we, as denominational servants, are under the accountability of lay people and pastors from churches across the United States. I don't consider that a burden, but I see it as a mark that we serve the churches and not the other way around.

People have joked with me about running for SBC office, but I think it is a bad idea. First, because I would lose-- big time. Second, and more importantly, in our current SBC environment it is important for denominational employees to be accountable to our churches-- not, for example, appointing trustees that, well, oversee us.

Well, its official... the National New Church Conference (now called the Exponential Conference) will be amazing...

The folks at Red Cowboy Designs are going to be tweaking the site tonight... Text and comments should still be working, but we are working on a redesign and some of the side column links are not yet active. Feel free to share your thoughts on the look. (The Monday is for Missiology graphic is the first graphic with more to come.)

Rick Meigs came up and introduced himself at a conference I was leading in Portland. I always enjoy meeting insightful people I have read online.

I like Rick's missional icon, and I have used it here. Rick has also done a great job listing definitions of missional... Click on the graphic to take a look.

There are many definitions. Some people are not happy that we would try to create a definition at all. Others think it is already defined.

But, as Rick illustrates on his site, there are lots of ideas about what the word means. Some have expressed concern that the focus is becoming, "what missional means to me." A valid concern. But, in all the discussion of what it means to be missional, I thought the best thing was to ask those who first used the word. (Crazy idea, eh?) And, we ought to also understand the theological and missiological discussion that the early users say undergirded their work.

Much as I did with Francis DuBose, I laid out my quest to better understand the various uses of the word "missional" and asked Chuck Van Engen for his insights.

Tonight, I will be preaching that Saint Louis Metro Baptist Association and, I think, hanging out with the StlBaptist church planters afterward. St. Louis is a great city and the Association has a great vision... it should be a good night...

Updated: and it was:

Reggie McNeal

Reggie McNeal called this week. For those of you who don't know Reggie, you need to. He's a great brother with a passion for the good news. Reggie is writing another new book (isn't he always?). This next book will be focused on a mission-centered life. Reggie's most recent book is Get a Life, provocatively subtitled, "It Is All About You."

Bobby Gilstrap has been doing this crazy audio conference for a while now... and it seems to have caught on. He gets all kinds of people to do the call... and tomorrow he is stuck with me. He wrote me today, "Right now we have 240 registered for Tuesday's conference. Almost one fourth of our lines are reserved for groups that are meeting to listen and discuss the topic after the conference."

You can still sign up if you do so early tomorrow. If you miss this one, be sure to check back by. They have Herb London up next. Click here to register and see future conferences.

This month's edition of Catalyst Monthly is now up at Catalyst Space. You can read my article here.

I must confess to going on a bit of a rant, but all this anger at (and within) the church is breaking my heart. Here are a few brief excerpts:

Paul was willing to take a beating for the church because Jesus submitted to a brutal murder "to make her (the church) holy, cleansing her in the washing of water by the word. He did this to present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and blameless." (Ephesians 5:26-27 HCSB)

Seems like fewer and fewer people are willing to take the church seriously, let alone take a beating for her...

I am in Minneapolis today. It is odd to be back in the town after being here a few weeks ago at Bethlehem Baptist Church, then watching the bridge collapse on national television, and now returning a few weeks later.

Yesterday, Earl Creps spent all day with the Evangelical Free Church national leadership in their first ever "missional summit." We are meeting at Grace Church, a huge church in Eden Praire, MN.

More tomorrow... I have to go back to the meeting room, which, oddly enough is the choir practice room that seats 300... so, hopefully I won't just be "preaching to the choir," but we will be "provoking one another on to love and good deeds" (Hebrews 10:24).

This morning, we unpacked ideas of God's mission, the sending nature of God, biblical fidelity, the sending of the church, and the Kingdom. It is exciting to me that a whole denomination would bring its national and regional leaders together to ask the hard questions about how to be intentionally missional in their approach. There are about 200 leaders here wrestling through what it means to be a missional movement.

Tomorrow, I willl post my next "Meanings of Missional" post.

In the meantime, let me direct you to a few articles or posts that I think provide helpful context for the missional conversation.

I mentioned Glenn and the church here.

Glenn went on to be with the Lord today.

Well, I am not very good at getting my "Meanings of Missional" series out on Monday. My new post is done, but I am waiting to get a couple of quotes confirmed. So, as soon as I hear back, I will post it... hopefully very soon. In the meantime... let me share about an upcoming project.
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I think it is a good thing to understand and engage popular culture and practical ministry. I talk a lot about biblical fidelity, cultural relevance, local church ministry, and leadership. And I try to write some things to help pastors and leaders. But, I also think it is a good thing to engage in scholarly discussion of the issues that undergird such conversations. As such, I am co-editing a forthcoming missiology book with David Hesselgrave.

Yesterday, I attended First Baptist Church of Hendersonville, TN. Actually, it was the second week I attended -- last week we worshiped with the congregation and heard Ergun Caner preach.

Yesterday was to be the first day of a several week sermon series I would be preaching at First Baptist, but something else was more important: their beloved pastor is struggling and is very ill.

No, not the Enviornmental Protection Agency, but the Evangelical Press Association.

One of the blogs in my Bloglines Reader is GetReligion.org. The site analyzes secular media coverage of religious issues and they are often quite insightful.

Thanks to the folks at SBCLife for printing my SBC sermon in their most recent issue.

Preaching that message was a challenge... Honestly, I was quite nervous. But, I felt that I had a message that God had laid on my heart and tried to be faithful, honest, and encouraging. But, it was a bit intimidating to preach to such a great group of pastors and leaders.

I am not the greatest preacher in the SBC... not even close. But, I do care deeply about this denomination, its churches, and its mission. Hopefully that came through in the message.

If you want to watch the message on line, you can do so at 316 Networks by clicking here or just click on the frame below. There is also a bootleg version posted on youtube and I believe more people have downloaded the message than were left in the room that night!

Uberblogger Tony Kummer interviews my boss, Brad Waggoner, who says some reasonable things which, of course, will get him in trouble. He also talks about our vision here at LifeWay Research. You can find the podcast here.

My friend George Klippenes, who directs church planting for the Evangelical Free Church, wrote this email (posted with permission) and provided some helpful information.

Next week, Earl Creps and I are meeting with the E.Free. National Church Leadership in their first ever "Missional Summit" in Minneapolis. Earl and I will lead the conference with these 150 key leaders to encourage them to think biblically, missionally, and discerningly. Before I leave, I will have the chance to talk research with a smaller group of church planting leaders.

The fine folks at NAMB have agreed to let us release some new research. The research was done at the Center for Missional Research.

You should visit their site-- you can download over 2000 reserach presentation on a myriad of topics. The CMR web portal is one of the things I was most excited about when I worked at NAMB. (PeopleGroups.info was another). Richie Stanley is now coordinating research at NAMB and they continue to do good work.

Here is a rundown of what church planting research you can download.

Early this morning, D. James Kennedy heard the words of Jesus, "Well done my good and faithful servant."

Facts and Trends is the flagship magazine for all things LifeWay. It's good stuff.

The graphic from the last issue says it all:

Even after mocking my Hawaiian shirt, their had the audacity to put me on the "Ask ____" column at the new Facts and Trends Online.

So, if you are not into posting on blogs, but have a question, click here.

The 9 Marks Journal recently asked me to respond to the issue of race. You can download their full journal here.

I had a small part in the pastor/theologians forum.

LifeWay Research is launching a multi-phase research project to help churches who are interested in transitioning into multi-site ministry by learning from those churches who have already become multi-site.

If your church is a multi-site church and you are willing to share from your experiences take a few minutes to fill out this short survey.

http://multisitechurch.info/

If you followed the young adult dropout series, you have seen some insightful commentary from Jeff Schadt, Scott Stevens, Jim Johnston, and Mark Lydecker.

Here is another commentary. See this press release that explains, "MOVIEGUIDE® has the tools to help parents and churches prevent teenagers and young adults from leaving the Christian faith. We can even help them strengthen their faith."

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm....