Al Mohler and Tadd Grandstaff were on NBC Nightly News Friday night. See the teaser here:

You can see the video of the actual report here.

Three things stood out to me.

I just got back from Phoenix. The Assemblies of God Church Planting Summit was a great experience. The Christian Post has the story here.

On the plane back, I wrote a bit about my friends in the Assemblies of God, returning a favor from Earl Creps blog here.

The Assemblies of God has a bold vision, called MX9, that they will have 1000 church plants planned or underway by 2009. This is a great step forward... and a great increase over where they are now.

I have a long term friendship and an appreciation for the Assemblies of God leadership. Earlier this summer, I spoke at the General Assembly of the Assemblies of God in Indianapolis at the request of Steve Pike, who is their church planting movement leader (and an all around great guy, having planted a strong church in Colorado and now investing his life in planters).

Click here for more information about the chuch planting summit.

Bob Roberts, Steve Johnson, Alan Hirsch... nice.

Hopefully talking about church planting on the blog will not suddenly drop the recently increased traffic. Grin.

More soon...

I will post the written presentations here and then link to the audio presentations as soon as they are up.

Post 1:
Here is the presentation I just gave at the Calvinism Confab at Ridgecrest. Later on, we will post the full report at www.lifewayresearch.com.

Post 2:
Here is the rough draft of Dr. Dockery's presentation on the history of Calvinism. It is a draft, but I have his permission to post it.

Post 3:
Tom Nettles written presentation is now here.. (Thanks for Chris Turner for getting in converted.)

It just struck me...

Today, I present on Calvinism and then stay two days to hear lots of talks on Calvinism related issues. This is an important event for my denomination.

On Thursday, I will be in Arizona speaking at the Assemblies of God chuch planting summit. Their summit may be the most significant denominationally focused church planting conferences in a long time. It is a quite a gathering. (My Assemblies of God friends will rebuke me for calling them a denomination... so please forgive me.)

That is quite a dichotomy. Wonder which one will be more exciting? Grin.

Note to self:
Don't mix up the presentations...
Don't mix up the presentations...
Don't mix up the presentations...

As I have mentioned before, I am presenting research today on the topic of Calvinism.

If you are interested in the subject, you might want to read Timmy Brister's chronological timeline of Calvinism in SBC life. I don't think Timmy would be bothered if I told you that he is on the Calvinism side of the argument and the document, at times, reflects that.

Though lengthy, it is definitely worth a read...

Yesterday was a great day in Boone, NC with Allan and Pam Blume at Mount Vernon Church.

One of the fundamental challenges with cultural engagement is how far to go to engage culture. It is always easy for smug people to sit on the sidelines and throw rocks at people who seek to engage cultures. I see it every day. Come to think of it, I get calls about it pretty regularly.

It seems that everyone is an expert on how far to go with engaging culture-- and the fact that you have no real experiencing in a certain culture does not keep you from opining on the subject. Sigh.

But, the fact of the matter is this: in every missional cultural engagement, some go too far and some don't go far enough. It is the nature of contextualization. It is hard. It takes a commitment to biblical principles. It takes wisdom. It takes listening to each other. And, those outside the culture need to listen to those inside. And, those inside the culture need to learn from those that have gone before them.

At the Madras missionary conference, way back in 1938, they explained that churches had to be "indigenous," or be rooted and related to their own cultural context:

An indigenous church, young or old, in the East or in the West, is a church which, rooted in obedience to Christ, spontaneously uses forms of thought and modes of action natural and familiar in its own environment. Such a church arises in response to Christ's own call. The younger churches will not be unmindful of the experiences and teachings which the older churches have recorded in their confessions and liturgy. But every younger church will seek further to bear witness to the same Gospel with new tongues" (International Missionary Council, "The Growing Church: The Madras Series," Papers Based upon the Meeting of the International Missionary Council, at Tambaram, Madras, India, December 12-29, 1938. Vol. 2, (New York, International Missionary Council), 276.)

Such a value is not easy to uphold and there are dangers on both sides.

Dean Gilliland explains:

To my Canadian friends. Thanks so much for having me at the National Church Planting Congress. Below are the studies and presentations I promised to post here.

I was very impressed with the Canadian National Church Planting Congress today.

I had a small part of a much larger program. I did one session with Canadian denomination leaders, one panel about reaching Quebec, and a keynote session tonight with the whole group. It is simply amazing that all these denominations come together to work on the common agenda of planting churches throughout Canada.

Tomorrow, Alan Hirsch, Cam Roxburgh, and I will lead a panel on missional church issues.

I will write more soon.

I had a great steak dinner on Friday in San Diego with Tom Clegg.

Tom has been a hero of mine for many years.

I wrote my Ph.D. dissertation on the development, implementation, and efficacy of church planting systems. It was Tom Clegg (along with Bob Logan and Tom Nebel) who actually taught me those systems in the late 90's. Our denomination hired them to come in and train us pastors how to coach and mentor church planters.

As I mentioned recently, Philip and I have a new book coming out... we were please to discover that it will be released simultaneously in Spanish.

Esta bien!

You can also preorder the books by clicking on the books.

I got in late last night from North Carolina. Had a good, and too brief, time in Greensboro at the North Carolina Baptist Pastors Conference. Click here for more info.

Today, I am with the Indepent Christian folks, who always tell me, "I used to be Baptist, but now I am a Christian." I will be dropping into their bootcamp for a couple hours today.

Then, off to Canada to talk missional, church planting, and rapid church multiplication. The theme of the Canadian National Church Planting Congress is, "Celebrating the Church, Expanding the Kingdom."

Busy week... too busy.

Here is an excerpt from the article (click here for the whole thing). I thought they did a good job communicating what I said:

Continue reading Baptists, Christians, and Canadians, Oh My....

Find out more here.

Quoting Morris Chapman:

We are asking some very tough questions in this survey -- many of the questions are groundbreaking in nature.

If you are S.B.C., watch the mail this week.

I have been called out on a couple of blogs this weekend...

Dan Kimball comments (among a few other nicer comments and some reflection on the topic of hell):

I believe Ed would look fantastic in a rockabilly hair cut and I encourage him highly to take his hair to the next level.

Dan knows:

And, Bob Roberts tells me:

FINALLY - ED STETZER - WRITE THAT BOOK!!!!! I was in San Diego with Ed at a conference. Several of us were talking about needing a book for missional church on "theological realities" and "historical" tracing of movements and end results to serve as a guide, base, and encouragement. It would be a more technical book, but I'm convinced many of us need it - me being one - and it would serve us well.

I promise to pray about one of these things.

-----------------------

UPDATE: David Phillips chimes in and provides a suggestion and what this tragedy might look like:

Click here.

Dan Kimball

I spent several hours this morning with Dan Kimball and his hair. I like Dan. He has a great heart for those far from Christ.

We talked theology, missiology, and the future of the emerging church. (Dan wrote the first major book on the subject, called, not suprisingly, The Emerging Church.)

His new book is called, They Like Jesus, but Not the Church. He shared some video interviews from the unchurched that I thought were powerful and telling-- how the church is alienating a generation that desperately needs Christ.

Ronnie Floyd

A few weeks ago I participated in a "Night of Worship" at First Baptist of Springdale Arkansas. The pastor there is Ronnie Floyd. I had never had a chance to spend some time with Ronnie so I was glad to catch some time at a local Mexican restaurant and learn more about him, his vision, and his church.

Yesterday, I mentioned the National Outreach Convention.

Tomorrow, I will be moderating a panel with some good folks, including:

I just arrived at the San Diego at the National Outreach Convention.

It should be a good week and I am not bitter that the folks at Outreach don't know where I work (click here, right under Len Sweet, and see the "North American Mission Board," my FORMER place of employment).

The Christian Post explained:

Thousands have converged in San Diego for the self-claimed single largest gathering focused solely on outreach and featuring much of today's most innovative and fastest growing churches in the country.

The National Outreach Convention (NOC), presented by Outreach Magazine, opened Wednesday at the Town and Country Resort & Convention Center...

This year's convention, under the theme "Converge: Where Mission Meets Innovation," aims at energizing and refocusing outreach efforts to help churches reach their surrounding communities for Christ.

Then they quoted what I am going to be doing in the session I lead:

But before local church pastors and other leaders jump on the bandwagon for innovative outreach methods, a panel discussion on Friday will address some of the dangers and the temptation of going from one new ministry trend to the next. The panel, led by moderator Ed Stetzer - director of research and missiologist at LifeWay - will provide "an honest deconstruction of the potential tyranny, superficiality and idolatry of ministry innovation in search of its true missional core."

Sounds like I am supposed to be the killjoy, but I hope not. And, "deconstruction of the potential tyranny" is quite a mouthful. Grin.

The good folks at Regal gave 200 copies of one of my new books, 11 Innovations in the Local Church (with Elmer Towns and Warren Bird), so I will be signing and sharing. (If you want people to sign up for your book signing, and you are not famous, you have to give books away! Thanks Regal.)

My focus will be on how churches engage their context in fresh ways.

I have not forgotten my "Meanings of Missional" series. I have been tied up finishing a few other projects, etc. I will get back to it soon and reflect on some conversations with Guder and others.

When David Putman and I wrote Breaking the Missional Code, our intent was not to write a philosophy / theology of the missional church. It was more of a handbook-- simple and short, intentionally without much of the foundational material we assumed people would read elsewhere. (I wrote much more foundational material in Planting Missional Churches.)

Last month, I wrote about my time with friends at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. The school has a unique place in the Great Commission Resurgence that is needed across my denomination and the church in general.

After Katrina hit, the school had its big chance to get out of what most people would consider a bad neighborhood (New Orleans' 9th Ward) and move to greener pastures (like their new "hubs" in Orlando and Atlanta). But, they didn't. They upgraded their centers, but their stayed in the city. And, I think it is great that they did.

Yes, New Orleans Seminary is not in a "nice" area... and isn't it good that Christians can go to places that are not nice? When I visited, I saw that the neighborhoods are still in disarray... but not the seminary. They are working hard, hosting volunteers to serve and reach the city, and being on mission in a hard place. And, I respect Chuck Kelley (and the trustees) for deciding to stay.

I recently wrote about some Anglican friends and their struggle. In that post, I wrote:

Pray that the Episcopal Church will respond to the calls for repentance from faithful Anglican Christians around the world.

They didn't. Instead, they sought to head off a schism by agreeing to "pause" (rather than repent of) their unbiblical practices.

This week, the Diocese of Pittsburgh voted to take the first step to leave the Episcopal Church. They will be followed by several others, I am sure.

Just before the vote, Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori sent a threatening letter to one Bishop who is leading his diocese away from the Episcopal Church (and into closer fellowship with faithful Anglicans in the two-thirds world).

Robert Duncan, who I had the priviledge to meet at the Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, wrote back to the presiding bishop:

Dear Katharine,

Here I stand. I can do no other. I will neither compromise the Faith once delivered to the saints, nor will I abandon the sheep who elected me to protect them.

Pax et bonum in Christ Jesus our Lord,

+Bob

Amen.

Please keep praying that the nature of the gospel, and why it is worth fighting for, will become clear to all in the coming days.

Looking forward to this Sunday. Talking about church in Los Angelels is nice. But, God has chosen the church to make known his manifold wisdom in the World (Eph. 3:10).

This Sunday, I will share about the whole "in the world but not of the world" challenge. Here is the introduction:

Being the Church in Culture: How to Be in but Not of the World

How do you answer the apparent contradiction of the next two verses?

1 John 2:15 (HCSB) Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him.

John 3:16 (HCSB) "For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

Thesis: You can be in, but not of, the world if you place your loyalty in another Kingdom, longing and living for Jesus, in the Lordship of Christ.

Focal Passage: Philippians 3:20 (HCSB) "Our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ."

We will work through Philippians 3:20 to get how having your citizenship elsewhere enables you not only to live in the world, but to live incarnationally and engage it for Christ.

I am at the annual conference of the American Society for Church Growth at Biola University.

I have been visiting with friends and listening to a couple of seminars.

George Hunter, Art McFee, and I ended up on the same flight. I offered to drive them to the meeting and George bought lunch. We had a good time talking about books and projects, past and future.

George wrote The Celtic Way of Evangelism and a bunch of other books. Art wrote Friendship Evangelism before other people put those words together (and has written several other books as well).

Tonight we had an Executive Committee meeting with George Hunter, Chip Arn, Elmer Towns, Gary McIntosh, and several others. These men have written so many of the books that adorn my shelves, it is intimidating to serve with them. But, they have a great love for the church and a passion to reach the lost.

This year's theme is "Church Growth and the Real World: Leadership Successes, Failures, and the Future." I'll be leading a session on "Leadership Lessons from Comeback Churches" on Friday.

I recently mentioned that I am preaching each week at a local church.

I am doing a sermon series right now called "The Church Inside Out." It is a thematic series, built around missional church ideas.

I appreciate the folks here willing to listen to a yankee preacher in a TN town. Also, preaching a "missional church" series at such an established church is always both a challenge and a blessing.

Here are my message notes from last Sunday. You can listen to the audio here.

God's Purpose in the Church

The church is being the church when it is a body on mission for God's Kingdom.

There are two models to consider:

Building + Clergy + Program = Church (Constantinian model)

Body + Mission + Kingdom = Church (Biblical model)

1. Body: Focus on Being rather than Doing Church

The church is being the church when it is a body on mission for God's Kingdom.

There are marks of doing that make a true church, but they are not what peope typically think. Most people see the "essentials" as building, clergy, and program. That is the wrong focus.

Those can be tools... but too often tools become rules and we begin to focus on them and not the fact that the church is a body.

Continue reading The Church Inside Out.