Starbucks discussion group/book talk is off the "ground"

Hey. Sorry for the delay. I have been battling a sinus infection. But enough about that.

Just wanted to give you an update on the Starbucks discussion group/book talk. Last Monday we met for the first time. While there, a great young man was sitting next to us. Overhearing our discussion, he expressed his interest in our group and will probably join us next week.

I also happened to mention the discussion group/book talk to the local OC alumni group. One of the members said that she had been looking for something like this, and plans to join us. We hope to welcome them both.

Isn't God amazing? When we go out, as we are called to do, he starts to open doors. If you would like to join us, we will meet again at 7:00 PM at the Starbucks this Monday, Oct. 30. If you are going to Monday Night for the Master, you can eat a meal up at the building at 6:00 PM, and then go over with us after this. This is a great opportunity to invite a friend to a natural, non-threatening setting for some good drink and discussion.

Christianity is about a lifestyle, not one hour a week

Do you feel sometime that something is missing in our "Christian" lives? So many times we divide Sunday morning from the rest of the week. One hour a week is sacred, and the rest is secular. Is this how Jesus saw life? No, he saw his whole life as a mission of God.

Michael Frost has developed a set of missional practices for their community to help them live the Christian life 24/7. They join together with one or two other Christian friends and seek to do the following together:

B-Bless the lives of 3 people each week (1 a Christian, 1 a non-Christian, 1 either);
E-Eat together with 3 others each week (1 Cbristian, 1 a non-Christian, 1 either);
L-Learn about Jesus’ life style by reading a gospel or reading about Jesus each week;
L-Listen to God’s voice each week;
S-Send—spend time in a “third place” each week (café, coffeeshop, common interest group, etc.) to get to know non-Christians. Again, do this together with 1 or 2 Christian friends.

What kind of impact would this make upon the world and our own lives if we consistently adopted this lifestyle?

Discipleship comes through doing, not thinking

Greetings from California! i'm taking a Doctor of Ministry class with Alan Hirsch, author of The Shaping of Things to Come. It is an excellent work on the missional church.

Here is a thought on discipleship. How did Jesus create disciples? He didn't have them sit around and study concepts. He said, "Come, follow me." We think that information and study leads to transformation. It rarely does. Think about how many sermons we have heard. Then think about how many times this actually changed our behavior. Ouch.

We need to disciple not by saying, study this. We need to disciple by saying, Come alongside me and serve. Then, as we are "on the road," teaching moments come up. This behavior leads to a change of thinking. The problem is that most of us have never actually been discipled.

What percentage of things that we hear do you think that we actually put into practice?