This is a guest post by Bex Barton. Her day job is a rockin’ stay-at-home-mum (three crazy kiddos!) She is passionate about writing, tattoos, upcycling (Google it!) and all things artsy! She believes everyone has a role to play in this beautiful, messy life (yes, even *you*!) and seeks to help them find their way back to God.

“Apostle. Prophet. Evangelist. Shepherd. Teacher. Such power in those five simple words. Such passion. Such controversy, as well.

It never ceases to amaze me how the very thing Christ was using to create harmony among us, has been such a tool for dissension.

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[This post is part of a series called Rooted. Find the other posts here]

By Steve Stuckey

He Did Not Get on Beau’s Party Bus

You will not find his name on the APE mailing list. He would not have stormed out the door last week to be the first one on Beau’s party bus` to El Camino College. He founded no organizations or churches; never wrote a book or gave a speech (though those are excellent things). The mechanics of leadership, a topic that preoccupies many of us, did not exist as a subject in his mind.  He was not good with words, a prerequisite for all of us who write and read this blog. In fact, no words are ever attributed to him in the Scriptures. He was probably a humble, quiet man who worked with his hands and lived much of his life in the shadows of his world. When his mission in life was complete, he silently faded into the mist of history without fanfare or applause. He must have been a fellow easy to overlook, even by God. When his young fiancée was found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit, a highly unusual and suspicious story, he was left to find out her situation through second hand sources.

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Join us for the Sentralized West Coast 2014 gathering in Costa Mesa January 23rd-25th, 2014. We will be hosting some of the best missional thinkers and practitioners in the world.

Come spend time with and learn from Alan and Deb Hirsch, Michael Frost, Ori Brafman, Neil Cole, Hugh Halter, Jen Hatmaker, Dan Kimball, Noel Castellanos, Lance Ford, Kathy Escobar, Kim Hammond, Lisa Sharon Harper, Caesar Kalinowski, Matt Smay, Leroy Barber, Efrem Smith, Jon Huckins, Sean Gladding, Beau Crosetto, Brad Brisco and others.

We will be offering 14 main sessions, 27 breakout sessions, and significant “living room” times to network and connect with all the presenters. So get registered, mark your calendar and plan on joining us in Costa Mesa in January!

[This post is part of a series called Rooted. Find the other posts here]

Delinquent Donkeys

Maybe someone left the gate unlatched. Or maybe one of the animals leaned hard against the wooden rails of the coral. Regardless, the herd of donkeys escaped their quarters and wandered off to who knows where. When the loss was discovered, Kish longed to get his valuable pack animals back. In the 10th century B.C economy, donkeys were the fuel efficient cargo trucks of the day. So Kish recruited his handsome son Saul and a trusted servant and sent them on a search. They looked far and wide. No donkeys. Finally the servant said, “There is a man of God in the next village. Let’s ask him.” So their loss, longing, and search led them, as a last resort, to seek God for help.

But what they found was not what they expected. Their seemingly haphazard search for delinquent donkeys led them into the middle of an epic search conducted by none other that Yahweh himself. The Lord was looking for a man with a heart for God who would serve his people with him. He is still looking.

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