Missional People

Thoughts from Verge:
“Plant Jesus, not churches” -Neil Cole. Neil did a great job talking about organic movements that are centered on Jesus, not a church. He makes the case that we should be planting Jesus first and the churches will take care of themselves. Definitely a good challenge to remember that all of this… missional, church [...]

The second missional principle we see in John 4 is conversation.  In John 4:7 Jesus asks the Samaritan woman at the well for a drink, just testing the relational waters if you will.   I guess he didn’t have to talk to her… he could have just given her a little head nod, a little [...]

In John 4 we see Jesus on a journey with his disciples and we see him stop in a town called Sychar in Samaria. You need to know that the people of Samaria were not well thought of by the Jews… they didn’t exactly get along. So the fact that Jesus even chooses to stop [...]

In evangelical subculture the ubiquity of the Great Commission is matched by the poverty of its interpretation. Matthew 28:18-20 — the command to make disciples of all nations — is frequently summoned to validate countless and sundry discipleship and evangelism programs, ideas and practices, often ignoring the interpretive wealth of the text. It’s as if we [...]

Some will claim that missional living or the missional church is just a fad or trend that will eventually die out and be replaced by a newer fad or trend. As much as I would disagree with this theory, I can understand how people might think this way. Sometimes we can get so consumed with [...]

Conversion and Contextualization: Re-examining our Expectations of Gospel Change
According to Andrew Walls, the word “conversion” has been used in two main ways throughout Christian history.[1] The first meaning of conversion denotes “an external act of religious change.” This act reflects a movement towards Christian faith, individually or collectively. The other meaning of conversion refers to “critical [...]

Some people around the country have called to ask what we are doing and how North Village Church got started. Although the last thing we want to do is reduce this to a cookie cutter model there are some things that are reproducible. The first starting with a burden for something different within the local [...]

Knowing what is involved in justification and why it is necessary is extremely important, but it means nothing if it does not move us to mission. Realizing that we are justified by and before a holy God through Jesus should move us to invite others to experience the same justification. This should not be an [...]

Church planting is difficult… plain and simple. It is not for people who just want to be a senior pastor. It is not for people who just want to preach on a stage. It is not for people who just want to work at a church. It is not for people who want to implement [...]

In Gospel and Method Part 1, we exposed an unhealthy preoccupation with methods in church growth debates. To a degree, this debate ignores what is most critical in church planting: our understanding, articulation, and embodiment of the historic gospel of Jesus Christ. Varieties of methods, from organic house church to attractional megachurch, have been used by [...]