Ed Stetzer Is (Probably) Not Your Pastor

At the “amen” of the closing prayer, the man bounded up to the stage with a satisfied look on his face. “Dude, you really brought it just now!” he exclaimed. “That was just what we needed to hear!” The Dude in question was Ed Stetzer, missiologist, author, preacher, researcher, and popular Christian conference speaker. The [...]

Tags: Church, ecclesiology, Ed Stetzer, pastor

The Church Has A Mission

The Upstream Collective recently went to London and Paris on a Jet Set vision trip. We took 26 pastors and church leaders (and  a couple wives) to Europe to see first-hand what missions looks like in that post-Christian context. These trips have always been successful.  90% of pastors who participate find ways to become directly [...]

Tags: Church, Missiology, sending church

You’re Not From Around Here Anymore

The biggest obstacle to a church truly becoming missional is a mistaken sense of citizenship. Missionaries to foreign lands understand quite well (and quickly!) that ministry among a different people requires them to change the way they see things- they learn language in order to communicate, they study culture in order to relate, they build [...]

You’re Afraid

Dear Pastor, I’ve always been perplexed by your lack of direct involvement in international missions. It’s not that you shy away from preaching about international issues. You often encourage social action- you’ve led your church’s campaign to help local public schools. You support a child in a poverty-stricken village in Malaysia. You’ve raised money to [...]

A Hundred Different Directions

You’ve worked hard to build a missions-minded church. You have a couple that are really excited about ministry in Indonesia. You have a young lady who’s been to Kenya over a dozen times. Your church has planted churches in inner-city Detroit and suburban Ohio. You take mission trips to Nicaragua and Lisbon every year. You [...]

Who Does Your Church Look Like?

They say that, over time, we begin to resemble our spouses. Maybe it’s convenience- we use the same products, shop at the same stores, eat the same foods. Eventually, you can’t tell whether those are your glasses or hers. You just grab whatever set of dentures you find lying around and put them in. It [...]

Tags: homogeneity, look-alikes, personality, spouses

Grown-up Church

If everything I know about church was learned in youth group, I’d be inclined to think that: Church should be a good mix of games, singing, a short devotion, and pizza. Accountability is meeting with a “grownup” who asks me if I’ve been reading my Bible. Socially, it’s easier to be a big fish in [...]

Tags: Church, grown-up, Youth Group

If I Were Mark Driscoll

Obviously, I’m not Mark Driscoll. I couldn’t be, even if I tried. The man is an amazing communicator, a fearless preacher of the scriptures. Through his sermons, interviews, debates, and seminars, Pastor Mark makes the Truth understandable, accessible, and applicable for thousands of people on a regular basis. Beyond the teachings of Mark Driscoll is [...]

Tags: apostolic, Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill

The Counterintuitive Church (pt. 8, The Impractical Churches Among Us)

PREVIOUSLY: Impractical Spaces Lest you think these last few posts reflected only the thoughts of a lone anonymous cynic, I’d like to introduce you to some of the many other intentionally impractical leaders among us: When he started the Evergreen Community in Portland, Oregon, Bob Hyatt had a vision- he knew what he wanted his [...]

Tags: Counterintuitive, Impractical

The Counterintuitive Church (pt.7, Impractical Spaces)

Previously: Impractical Worship Megachurches don’t just happen. And they’re certainly not the inevitable result of God’s blessing. They are the results of decisions throughout the lifetime of a church. Say a church plant starts out with three couples meeting in a living room. That’s six people meeting regularly to worship God and be a local [...]

Tags: Counterintuitive, friendly takeover, Impractical, indigenous