I received a review copy of The Tangible Kingdom Primer, a self-described 8-week guide to incarnational community. Written by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay, The Tangible Kingdom Primer explores how to become mission-minded and then act on it by creating authentic community.

It is a cleverly designed workbook with lots of graphics and even more questions intended to take you on a journey through the ideas. To get the best flavor of this workbook, here is a sample question from each week:

1. How much time per week are you willing to give to building deeper relationships with them?
2. Who in your life needs you to be an advocate for them now?
3. Is your own view of the Gospel missing anything?
4. What would you need to change to incorporate more opportunities for community to take place in your life?
5. Considering the relationships that God has brought into your life, what are your responsibilities to them now?
6. Who are some of the people in your life that you are currently investing in relationally?
7. As you consider the differences between passive discipleship and apprenticeship, how would you describe your own life?
8. How can you work with God so that you are more accessible to people and more available for God?

The Tangible Kingdom Primer is a great way to immerse yourself in thinking about community. It is an area that I need to improve. What about you?

Do you thrive at creating community or do you get lost in your own world? What are your pitfalls or keys to success?

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

Francis Chan of Cornerstone Church (Simi Valley, CA) discussed taking Jesus literally during Verge Conference’s 1st session. Here is what he said:

In Exodus 33:15, Moses tells God how much he needs God’s presence to be with him in every moment. If God’s presence wasn’t in it, Moses did not want to be a part of it. The more things God entrusts you with, the harder it gets to focus wanting the presence of God in everything. We get sidetracked by details and our own motives. We get distracted by what others are doing.

If I planned a church based on Scripture, I wouldn’t even think about the gathering. I’d think about the mission. I would look at the Great Commission literally.

It is so weird how we change everything in church. We don’t take Jesus’ words literally. We act like if Jesus says it, we don’t have to actually do it but just memorize it. How many churches are actually making disciples?

If I tell my daughter to go clean her room, she knows better than to come back later with her room still messy and say:

I memorized what you said.
I can say it in Greek.
A group of friends and I are going to get together and study what you said.

We need to take Jesus literally and do what He says.

I am like a Lego piece. There is nothing great about me, but together we catch people’s attention. No one has ever seen God, but if we as the Body of Christ love each other then people will catch a glimpse of it. It is by our unity and the way we love one another that we will reach people.

I think about the power of Jesus that I would believe in if I just read the Scriptures. Are you sure that you have experienced the Holy Spirit this past year? The early church wasn’t a plan by the disciples. It was the Holy Spirit.

What are the things that Jesus wants? These are the things that we should be confident about. What does it take for us to make disciples and love others? Go on mission. Live like mission.

In a couple of days, I will be live blogging from the sold out Verge Conference (Austin, TX). Its focus is the missional church. What does missional mean? How can you be a missional church? These and many more questions will be discussed. But before the conference begins, I want to start a conversation here with you by asking:

How do you think a church can be missional?

When I hear this question, one of my first thoughts is, “Aren’t all churches missional?” Unfortunately, I know they answer is “no.” Unquestionably, churches should be on mission to go outside their walls and preach the gospel, disciple believers, and love on people. Sometimes though, churches turn inward focused. Sometimes though, churches become shy about being missional.

I think one of the biggest steps to being a missional church is making missional a part of your DNA. It starts with the leaders. You have to live it and emphasize it with your words. Don’t ever stop. You have to protect it to guard your church from becoming apathetical and self-centered. It starts with the leaders, but it must spread to the church community. The church as a whole must live it.

But I want to know what you think… How do you think a church can be missional?

To watch free live streamed content from the Verge Conference, please sign up on the Website.

My friends Eugene and Minhee Cho created the movement One Day’s Wages. The goal is simple:

Give one day’s wages (roughly 0.4% of your annual salary) to help those in extreme global poverty.

In the minute it takes you to read this post, 17 children under age 5 will die from poverty-related causes (25,000 kids per day). This holiday season is the perfect time to give a gift with a life-giving impact.

You can donate your one day’s wages to one of several organizations - charity: water, HEAL Africa, or Not for Sale. For holiday ideas, see the One Day’s Wages holiday guide for ODW parties and donations as gifts.

It’s a movement worth supporting more than just on Facebook.

Every November, churches across the U.S. collect food for those in need to celebrate Thanksgiving. This year more churches should start planning and gathering food early not just for Thanksgiving but also for the weeks before and after.

The number of Americans using food stamp government assistance has risen to record levels. In May, over 10% of the total U.S. population received food stamps.

In order to reach all of these people, churches must do more than what they have done in the past.

(via Good)

Innovation3, Bob Roberts of NorthWood Church (Keller, TX) discussed how we can catch up with the rest of the world.

There are two core fundamental ways in which movement and transformation take place in the context of society

We know how to help our local church, but we are old school about global ministry. Being missional is more than just doing a couple of projects for the poor.

What does the Great Commission say?
As you are going, make disciples.

How did the early church produce disciples so quickly, yet we take so long? When they make disciples, they abandon themselves to live for Christ. If we could follow Christ today, where would we go? Where it is tame? Or where all hell is breaking loose?

What does it mean to make disciples? When Jesus says make disciples of all nations, what is that all about?

Abraham in Genesis 12 is the ultimate disciple. He was a blessing to all nations.

The lowest common denominator is the disciple.

Gospel > Disciple > Society > the Church emerges

What is the Non-Western Church Like?

1. We focus on the Holy Spirit, and the West is pragmatic.
2. We focus on obedience to the Word of God.
3. There is gratitude towards Abraham for what he did, but there is a focus on Ishmael.
   The Great Commission will not be fulfilled until Muslims come back to Christ.
4. It is an integration of faith, and life, and everything.
5. They is an absence of money that causes us to trust God for everything.

We need to engage the world. God is going to do it with or without you. Your only responsibility is obedience.

When it comes to short-term mission trips, often it is the lives of the missionaries that are impacted the most. The Barna Group recently published research that explores how short-term mission trips affect those who take them. Here are some highlights:

Who takes short term mission trips?

• 9% of American adults
  >> only 3.5% of American adults went in the last 5 years
• 11% of churchgoers
• 23% evangelical Christians
• 12% of Mosaics (ages 18-24)
• 9% of Busters (ages 25-43)
• 7% of Boomers (ages 44-62)
• 9% of Elders (ages 63+)

How do short-term mission trips affect those who go?

• 75% say the experience changed their life in some way
• 25% say it helped them become more aware of other people’s struggles
• 16% say it taught them more about poverty, justice, or the world
• 11% say it increased their compassion
• 9% say it enriched their faith
• 9% say it broadened their spiritual understanding
• 5% say it boosted their financial generosity

For Discussion:
- How have short-term mission trips (local, national, or international) affected your congregation?

I spent part of my childhood as a missionary’s kid in Lima, Peru. The home we lived in was a tall and skinny red three story concrete building squished like a townhouse between two other houses. From the outside, much of it looked like a castle turret. This is where the staircase was, and underneath the staircase, at the very bottom of the house was a cold, dark, and dusty bathroom with a low ceiling.

The kitchen was across the hall from this bathroom, so we frequently passed by it without giving it any notice. But one night as I was in the kitchen opening a bottle of coke, I heard a ploop.

I paused and listened…

Ploop, ploop.

The noise sounded like it was coming from the bathroom. So I quickly rushed across the hallway, turned on the bathroom light, and looked into the toilet.

What appeared to be a big brown worm was swishing around, and then it shot down the hole towards the sewer. But it wasn’t a worm. It was a rat tail. And all around the toilet seat were rat paw prints. I was surprised. I did not know rats could come up from the sewer to the toilet. It was an unexpected problem but easily fixed by placing a weight on the toilet lid.

MINISTRY LESSON
Expect and plan for unexpected problems in unexpected places.

This may sound impossible, but it is really quite simple. You can never completely prevent problems from occurring. But you can budget resources (time, money, & skills) so that they are available when an unexpected problem arises.

In others words, create margin for your ministry’s time, money, and skills by not scheduling every minute of your day, not spending every dollar in your budget, and not overcommitting yourself to one specific task. Then when an unexpected problem shows up in an unexpected place, you will likely have the resources to solve the problem quickly and effectively.

For Discussion:
- How to you prepare your ministry for unexpected problems?

Other MK Ministry Lessons
1. Speaking Another Language
2. Big Numbered Intis
3. Timoteo’s Fly Eye Kaleidoscope
4. Christmas Tacos
5. Worm Pills
6. The Presence of Guns
7. Cusco Limits