Finished Mark Driscoll's (Mark's Blog) new book, Confessions of a Reformission Rev., a new release from Leadership Network (www.leadnet.org). I thought the book was great, stimulating, fantastic read and very challenging. It affirmed lots of things II already hold dear and challenged others. It might take two posts to summarize...here are my main notes on parts I found stimulating and challenging; most of the words are my summary and not Mark's direct quotes, so don't crucify him if I raised an issue in words not his own...
-Reformission = Gospel + Culture+ Church. I love those 3 foci. Passion for the Gospel, Passion for the Church, Passion for the Culture
-The church gains influence by serving...For as long as I've been in ministry, Matthew 5:13-16 has been true...and I suspect it will continue to be true :-)
-Churches grow as Christians bring Jesus to lost people through hospitality
-Churches must be Jesus centered and BOTH attractional and missional (this is right on!)
-I loved his diagram on ministry flow but thought instead of Christology he should have subsituted Word (living and written) and instead of Ecclesiology, he should have substituted Leadership/Vision, which then led to missiology and ministry. When I wrote Pastorpreneur (www.pastorpreneur.com), I used a similar diagram with the words Grip (Gripped by God's vision), Grasp (Grasp of the community needs), and Gifts (Gifts within our local body)
-We need both the humble incarnate Christ and the triumphant exalted Christ!
-3 types of people: Observers-Consumers-Participants. I use the phrases "spectators, renters, owners"
-Biblical leaders define, direct, and defend the mission
-Jesus mission: transform people and culture by the power of the Holy Spirit through the work of the Gospel. The pastor as missiologist...we need tough men to do this job!
-Loved (and cracked up!) at the emerging missional church movement being Reformed-Charismatic-Evangelical. Imagine 3 less likely words to be used in a single sentence! Isn't God good?
-Pastors...your church is comprised of people you don't know yet...THIS IS HUGE!
-Annointed preaching can only flow out of an annointed preacher who spends time alone with God in prayer and Scripture. OBVIOUS...and SO NEEEDED for all of us.
-Great list of types of people on pages 79-80
-Limiting the size of a church for our convenience is sin...be a church that exists more for the people who are not yet saved than for the people who are
-The church exists to welcome and convert lost people
MORE to come IN THE NEXT POST...
