2013 | Release the A.P.E.

Tutsi, Hutu, Genocide & Prophetic Multiethnicity

2 responses
February 13, 2013

genocide

By Eric Rafferty

[This is part of the series “Multi-Ethnicity in the Missional Church”. Read the other posts here]

In 1972 an intentionally multiethnic community of college students made a choice to prophetically reveal the Kingdom of God in their love for one another.

They crossed ethnic lines, broke rules, and cared for each other so sacrificially that the Kingdom of God was undeniably on display for their whole country to see. Just like the great prophets of scripture, their counter-cultural and prophetic example pointed many back to the heart of God, but it cost most of them their lives.

Lent: Cultivating the Prophetic

6 responses
February 12, 2013

lonely_bench_w1

The six weeks leading up to Easter are observed all over the world as a season of preparation and repentance, known as Lent. If observed at all in evangelical circles, often Lent is a time to try and give up sweets, coffee, or TV. Instead of a holier version of New Year’s Resolutions, Lent has the potential to reach deeper into our lives and hearts and, in the words of the wise Christine Sine,

“sweep out the corners in which sin has accumulated”

I believe it is a season to cultivate the prophetic in each of us individually, and in our communities of faith as well.

While this post is not technically in the John the Baptist series, his prophetic ministry worked a lot like Lent. He was preparing the way for the Messiah Jesus in the ancient Jewish community by calling for a baptism of repentance, helping people change the way they lived so they could make way for Jesus. Lent is the season that makes space in our life for Jesus to come into it more fully. As we prepare, sometimes by getting rid of things that block our ability to connect with God, sometimes by diving into things more deeply that bring us closer to him, we make space.

Funding or Prayer: What Are You Raising?

no responses
February 6, 2013

obi-wan-and-qui-gon-jin

By Luke Cawley

How’s your budget looking? Do you have all the money you need to fund your ministry for the coming year? If the cash isn’t there, do you have a plan to try and raise the cash that makes your work possible?

I am thinking a lot about money these days. I was recently involved in setting up a new organization called Chrysolis. I am hoping to move with my wife and kids to Romania soon and begin developing the work of Chrysolis in Eastern and Central Europe. Like most such pioneering work it needs money to make it happen. We don’t need piles of cash, but we would like enough to house and feed our family, and also to cover the general costs of our work. So, I do think about money fairly frequently and, like you with your ministry, I do have some thoughts about how we might be able to raise it.

Book Give Away: “Making All Things New: God’s Dream for Global Justice”

4 responses
February 2, 2013

making all things new Here is the first free book giveaway for 2013!

This week we are giving away

“Making All Things New: God’s Dream for Global Justice” by York Moore

5 COPIES!!!!

This book really helps us think about “God’s Dream” for the world and how He is on mission to make all things new. York helps us take a deeper look at brokenness, injustice and God’s redemption all in light of the end time reality that Jesus will come back and reign as King.

I know York personally and he has a a huge heart for both justice and seeing things made right, but also evangelism and seeing people come to know Jesus Christ and start personal relationships with Him. He is really onto something here with his writing and his book as he brings the two together so we can better see and understand the full story of God!

Here is how to enter yourself for the drawing…

Jesus Meets Jesus…A Greek Conversion Story

one response
February 1, 2013

Pictures of the UCLA Greek Plant from fall 2012

By Beau Crosetto

Just this week we saw a student come to faith in the Greek System at UCLA. You can read his story here.

The reason we moved to start work in the 17 Greek Systems in Los Angeles was so that we could see students connect to Jesus for the first time! Students who are intertwined in sin, confused in purpose and lost in shallow relationships.

I love starting things for God in difficult places. That is my calling in life and the Greek Systems in LA are one of those places over time I will be called to partner with God to see communities of faith start.

I write this post as a simple reminder to myself and to you about two things:

Multiethnic Ministry That’s Apostolic

no responses
January 31, 2013

An apostolic vision of multi ethnicity is about reaching every corner of a campus or city.

[This is part of the series “Multi-Ethnicity in the Missional Church”. Read the other posts here]

By Eric Rafferty

When multiethnic ministry is an expression of our apostolic calling it becomes something more than another value to care about. It is the benchmark of mission; the people of God sent to every culture. Apostolic multiethnicity is more than getting different colored people in a room together; it’s a diverse community of disciples being sent to every corner.

Lead From The Front

no responses
January 30, 2013

Jon Ferguson leading a baptism service in Chicago

By Dave Ferguson

Apostolic leaders lead from the front! The apostle Paul led from the front. That’s why he could say,

“I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church” (1 Cor. 4:16 – 17).

He felt confident enough in the mission that if others would just follow his lead, the mission would be accomplished. In fact, Paul felt confident enough that he was sending Timothy to lead them, because he knew that he had apprenticed Timothy and that if they just imitated Timothy’s life, they could accomplish the mission.

Major Problem: Making Mission A Program In Your Church

3 responses
January 29, 2013

[This post is part of the A.P.E. Theology series. Read the rest of the posts here!]

missio Dei 2 One of the key theological foundations in the missional conversation involves the concept of the missio Dei, or “mission of God.” It is God who has a mission to set things right in a broken world—to redeem and restore it to what was always intended.

Therefore, mission is not a program of the church. It is not something we invent. Mission is not something we initiate. Instead mission flows directly from the nature and purposes of a missionary God. It is not that the church has a mission; it is that God’s mission has a church. In other words, it is God’s mission, and the church is an instrument created by God to be sent into the world to join in his mission. This is a complete “game-changer” in several ways, but for now lets consider one.

How Do I Gather An Apostolic Core Group?

no responses
January 28, 2013

Greeks at USC studying scripture for the groups they will lead!

[This post is part of the Start Something New series. Read the other posts here!]

By Beau Crosetto

Over the last few months, since the start of this blog, I have had a couple of people reach out to me with these specific questions,

“How do I gather apostolic people on campus?

“Beau, how do you get your core team to actually start new things? I have gathered people, but what do you do to get them moving?

In some ways these are two different questions, as one asks how I gather, while the other asks how I take a gathered group and move them to action. But I think at the root they are similar in that these people want to know how do you get an apostolic, or action based core team that actually takes risks and steps out to start new things?

Here are a couple of things that I practically do with core teams or keep in mind when I am starting a new ministry and gathering a team for the first time.

[If you would like to receive my go to material for new core teams, join the APE newsletter!]

Missiology as World Building

2 responses
January 26, 2013

City Scape

This is a guest post by R. York Moore. He works for InterVarsity on a national level, and has been training Christians in personal evangelism through his seminar,“Tell the Story!”for over 10 years and has been an evangelistic speaker for over 15 years. After coming to Christ as an Atheist at the University of Michigan where he honored in philosophy, R. York Moore has led thousands of college students to Christ throughout the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean.

As an abolitionist, over the past ten years I’ve brought together leaders in business, academia, medicine, entertainment, law, government, with non-profit leaders to engage the growing problem of human trafficking. Through large city-sized campaigns to small events on liberal arts colleges I have been surprised to see how easy it is to build coalitions around the ‘common good.’

Challenges to justice are the single greatest unifying force between Kingdom-minded Christians and this emerging generation of globally conscious non-Christians. This unifying force provides a firm foundation to build not only movements but importantly the kinds of working relationships that can lead to real transformation.

The challenge often comes with the lack of theological understanding and vision on the part of Christians, both of which are needed to help us move from a place of mere activism to what I call ‘world building.’