Solution to Christendom Challenge?

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

You do not have to look far to discover that Christendom still maintains a stranglehold on the mindset of the American church. Many leaders still maintain that minor tweaks in the why we “do” church brings the possibility of attracting new people to the programs and activities of the church. They simply have not fully grasped the reality that we no longer live in a place where the church is the dominant seat of culture. The shift from a Christendom to Post-Christendom society is nearly complete; and the corresponding challenges are great.

But what is an appropriate response to the challenge?

The solution is to recognize the church’s relationship to the culture in terms of a missionary encounter. In other words, to see that in a Post-Christendom context the church is once again placed in an alien world. The mission field is no longer located somewhere else, instead it surrounds us on every side. And the greatest problem with making cosmetic changes to the church, is when we falsely assume those changes will some how help the church grow and we therefore put our time and energy into those practices instead of equipping and releasing people into this new, and rapidly growing mission field. There is no final answer or perfect solution to transitioning the existing church in a missional direction. But if there was one—a silver bullet—it would be the formation of every church member into a missionary.

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Free Book Give Away: “The Permanent Revolution”

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Here we are again for our next book give away!

The last one was great and we had awesome participation!

Let’s do it again!

This week we are giving away “The Permanent Revolution” by Alan HIrsch and Tim Catchim.

5 COPIES!!!!

And they are really nice and hard back! I am tempted to steal one and not give them all away…that’s how good they look!

This is a great book on apostolic leadership and it really makes the case in an in depth way for why we need to release and empower the apostolic vocation in the church. If we want a “Permanent Revolution” then we need the apostles released.

You think I like this book 🙂

THIS BOOK gives great attention to the apostolic vocation and goes in depth with describing it and giving us language.

I am really excited for you to get this book!

Also, if you are in LA area this Friday and Saturday, there is a great event at Fuller Seminary, LA 2012, where Alan will be presenting his book and JR will be presenting his. It is really cheap to come. Like $20 for a whole group! Check out the event here

Here is how to enter yourself for the drawing…

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How Does A.P.E. Show up in Parenting?

Thougtful R1

[This post is part of the “Non Conventional Places A.P.E. Giftings Show Up” series. Read the rest of the posts here!]

Ever wondered how your spiritual gifts play out in your parenting style?  It’s pretty easy to assume the way you parent is due to your wonderful planning combined with the 55 gajillion parenting books you’ve ingested.  Ever considered that the healthiest aspects of your parenting style are all bound up with your spiritual gifts?  Well, duh.  I hadn’t.

Like most areas of my life I hadn’t realized I was “leading” my children out of my spiritual gifts because a) I tend not to notice the things I’m doing well that I haven’t horded enormous effort into and b) the connection between spiritual gifts and parenting styles is talked about so infrequently.

Due to all the duty and responsibility wrapped up in being a parent it can seem daunting right to figure out which is which? But, we are leading our kiddo’s and we may as well do that in an informed way.  We need to do that in a way that lovingly invites them to share with us in our work to expand the Kingdom of God.  When the hubs & I parent R1 & R2 with these intentions in mind we are shepherding their gifts as well as watching them learn and risk alongside us.

Today I’m kicking off a 4 part series on four non-conventional places A.P.E. gifts show up: in parenting, marriage, blogging & friendships.  On our Belief page, we describe the Apostolic gift set as “leading in a sent way” to reach those in the fold or to expand the Kingdom of God where it is not yet.  Since I’m a stronger A than P or E I’ll explore how we can apostolically lead in these 4 areas in a sent way with a little P & E thrown in for good measure.  (And yes, apostolically is my very own made up word.  Can you handle it?)

So.  How can we model A.P.E. giftings while shepherding our kiddo’s into their unique gifts and callings?

Here’s a few ways I’ve given it a shot…

We Don’t Want Clones!

clones

That is why we are offering a different picture of life in the church than most of us are seeing.

Obviously we have set up this blog to push hard for the vocations of Apostle, Prophet and Evangelist in the church. To some this can seem like favoritism, to others like competition.

I have already fielded a few emails and comments wondering this very thing.

This is a fair question and one that must be answered.

In short, we are not saying that A.P.E. is favored or better. We fully believe we need the whole council of vocations found in Ephesians 4 to be a healthy church.

But the church in the western world has done such a poor job at teaching on Ephesians 4 and we have not differentiated enough, so the A.P.E. has been covered up big time…by clones!

Cloning

I would argue as Alan Hirsch does in his book, “The Permanent Revolution” that we have fallen into an act of cloning in the Western Church!

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“Yes, You Did Laugh.”

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“Yes you did laugh.”

Sarah, in Genesis 18, laughed when she overheard the Lord tell Abraham that she would give him a son in the next year.

When the Lord asked why she had laughed, the scriptures tell us that she lied because she was scared and said, “I did not laugh.”

But Lord, said, “Yes you did laugh.”

I have been journeying through Abraham’s story and meditating on him as I have moved to LA and this new land. It has been a rich time for me.

In light of the recent breakthroughs in our funding and just reflecting on all that God has done in our life and ministry the last month, I sense God calling me out today.

“Yes you did laugh, Beau.”

You see, God has given me some incredible breakthroughs the last few weeks, but just before that I was living in some great anxiety.

Two of these breakthroughs not mentioned yet is that God has started a Greek InterVarsity in the Asian Greek Council at USC (pic below) and also provided me leaders on the Panhellenic and NPHC (Historically Black Sororities) Council. We could potentially have Greek InterVarsity in every council at USC by winter and that would be unprecedented in our movement. I am praying and believing for this move of God!

Asian Greek Council at USC

The first Greek InterVarsity on the Asian Greek Council at USC. 8 members showed up to dream about a space for God in these fraternities and sororities!

I am taking some time this week to reflect on these breakthroughs and ask God what he wants to teach me about trusting him when I can’t see the outcome.

One of the questions that I am reflecting on this week is

“How does God want to shape me more like Abraham?”

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The Call to Fundraise…joys, challenges & more

Rome - mosaic - miracle fishing from New Testament in basilica of st. Peters

Jesus talking with Peter about the great catch

Raising support is a huge part of any missionary, pastor, or A.P.E. leaders life. I would venture to say that especially for apostolic leaders that are either going to oversee the mission of an organization or leave and go start new things, support raising and trusting God for provision will be a huge part of their life and calling.

I would also say that apostolic leaders in the marketplace, many who are entrepreneurs, are going to have to raise capital and trust God for financing in many projects.

Apostolic leaders risk big by God’s leading and many times those risks are financial.

I hope this story below really encourages you to stay the course and follow God into your calling no matter the financial ramifications or amount of trust you have to exercise.

Challenges in Fundraising

In a previous post about God calling us onward, I explained the joys and challenges of leaving your life behind in one city to go to another. I laid before you the difficulty of moving to Los Angeles and losing $25,000 of support in our transition.

As I shared with people the vision, some moved on because they felt called to other things. That is totally understandable and expected.

One person who stopped supporting our mission asked me,

“when do you get too old for this?”

Ouch.

After a number of people leaving our team, and not having any new people say yes to funding our mission to LA Greeks, it was hard many days to keep the faith and believe in our calling. As strong as you want to be and no matter how much you know you are called and heard from God, this kind of repsponse can be discouraging.

On my worst days I needed people to remind me of my call and not to give up as I dreamt about other jobs.

On my best days, I was full of faith, reminding my self that I do not live by sight but by faith and that God would provide what we need. Just hang in there and keep doing what you are doing. Be faithful in the little things every day.

However, the reality at the end of every day the last three months was this:

We were in LA now: a more expensive city, a bigger ministry, and more money to raise.

Because I took a director position I wasn’t just responsible to oversee my own support, but the other staff in the ministry and all the operating costs as well.

Breakthrough in Funding

Well just last Friday I got a game changing call!

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Raising Up Prophets…CCDA Conference

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If you want to find a gathering of prophets within the North American church today, look no farther than the Christian Community Development Association. Founded by John Perkins and others. You can read more about their vision here.

I attended the national CCDA conference this past week in Minneapolis, and it was a rich time of theology, inspiration, and rubbing shoulders with everyday believers that are radically living out the gospel of reconciliation and justice.

There were some fantastic plenary speakers, and one talk in particular given by Chris Rice and Emmanuel Katongole offered some profound insight that applies to the  “Releasing the A.P.E.” context as much as it does to the work of reconciliation, which was the theme of the CCDA conference this year.

Here are their three essentials, taken directly from their talk. Most of the content is theirs, and I have interpreted it within an A.P.E. lens.

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Check out the book winners! “Creating a Missional Culture”

That was a fun competition everyone! I really enjoyed reading all of your comments, tweets and facebook posts! Thanks for participating and we will definitely do it again! This month to be exact!

Alan Hirsch has kindly shipped me five HARD BACK copies of “The Permanent Revolution” that he and Tim Catchim have written. We will be doing another competition and giving those away as well later this month! I Can’t wait!! make sure to subscribe here and stay connected with us!

Here are the winners and what they wrote!

Brian Chung – “Awesome Book!” (shared on his facebook timeline)

Michael Stalcup – “I’m working toward building up a missional community at Claremont McKenna College, especially trying to plant a group in the heart of CMC’s party culture. Already seeing God do some amazing things and I want more! And I want this book. :)”

Chris Land – He is our twitter winner and simply tweeted out the contest 🙂

Jorge Bermudez – “Missional is a way of living your faith wherever you are, intentionally and with passion.”

Kyle – “Missional means having a purpose-mindset to reach others near or far for the sakeof the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Good job guys! You will love the book! And sorry there aren’t any lady winners! I promise this was completely random 🙂 email me and I will ship them off to you!

Free Book Give Away: “Creating a Missional Culture”

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Who doesn’t like a free book???

Well I am happy to announce that I have 5 copies of “Creating a Missional Culture” by JR Woodward to give away to you this week!

Big Thanks to InterVarsity Press for giving me these books for you! They are helping us get the word out about JR (one of our writers!!) and our blog!!

This is a great book that really helps you lean into and get familiar with the Five-Fold Ministry laid out for us in Ephesians 4.

JR calls them “Equippers” and he urges us to assemble our churches around the five equippers and shows us how to do this inside the book!

It is a great read!

Here is how to enter yourself for the drawing…

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Get to Know the A.P.E. Writers…Sarah Carter

San Diego Urban Project

Sarah with students on a summer project!

[This is a series designed to bring you into the the unique A.P.E stories of each writer on this blog. We hope each one of you can find a little of your A.P.E story inside of one of us. Read the other stories]

When I came to college, I was on the edge of faith. Not only was I faced with an onslaught of options to define who I was in that new and broader world, but I was also constantly nagged with a question about the Christian life…”Is this it?” Beyond just a restless sense of dissatisfaction, I’ve come to realize that question is the root of the A.P.E. in me.

Joining InterVarsity as a student answered many questions for me about what a community following Jesus could look like. Diverse, faithful, and risky, the students in InterVarsity gave me a taste of what being on the faith journey with good friends looked and felt like. Studying abroad in South Africa for a year expanded my American view of God and church and working with unwed, HIV-positive mothers in the townships gave me an insatiable desire to find God in the forgotten places.

Following graduation, I joined InterVarsity staff and during my first summer I took a small team of students to the Los Angeles Urban Project. This 5-week program gave us all a Kingdom theology grounded in God’s heartbeat for justice, and His preferential focus and call to those on the margins. It was here that my question of “Is this it?” was resoundingly answered by “Yes. This is what the Kingdom is like…”

From then, I was hooked. I have never been able to let go of a Gospel that “comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable.”

At a conference in San Francisco that we eventually brought to San Diego called Jesus, Justice and Poverty, a young woman shared her story about working and serving with the poor. As a white girl from a middle-class background like myself, she echoed the words in my heart when at the end of her testimony she cautioned,

“Don’t think that I do this because I am a great person or have anything to offer. This time spent in this community has saved my life.”

Every chance I’ve had to experience Jesus’ love and action for the broken, the prisoners, the poor has helped me understand and love Him more, and has saved me from a life of selfishness, oppression, and frivolity.

Prophet – Apostle

Therefore, in my very limited knowledge of APEST, I have found myself identifying with the prophet-apostle, unable to escape a “sent” life unleashing the Kingdom of God in anyway I can, and challenging the Church to do the same. There are many debates on how to interpret a prophetic role. I love Abraham Heschel’s definition in his book The Prophets,

 “The prophet was an individual who said No to his society, condemning its habits and assumptions, its complacency, waywardness, and syncretism. He was often compelled to proclaim the very opposite of what his heart expected. His fundamental objective was to reconcile man and God.”

Why does the Church need prophets today? In my interactions throughout the world, and in our own country, I have increasingly encountered an abject dismissal of Christianity because of how it has been lived out by Christians. Our good news has been lost as the Church has lost our grasp on the sacrificial, unconditional love of Jesus, who challenged the religious power, spent his time with sinners, and invited all people into an upside-down Kingdom. The prophets in our midst can call us back to that love.

For our truth to have any power, we must live out this message as well as speak it. Not only will it help our churches and our evangelism, but the world aches to see this Kingdom come, bringing healing, justice, and true reconciliation. This is the purpose of our life here on earth, and we must take hold of it completely, being willing to give anything in our life for it.  Along the way, this good news will transform believers as well as non-believers, churches, communities, and entire systems, giving us that kind of life that never needs to ask the question, “Is this it?”

What about you? Have you been asking yourself “is this it?” lately?

[This is a series designed to bring you into the the unique A.P.E stories of each writer on this blog. We hope each one of you can find a little of your A.P.E story inside of one of us. Read the other stories]