I’ve been out of the loop in my blogging this week. However, I did exercise this week, so I’m pretty excited about that. We had our monthly church planters network meeting with our convention yesterday. Bill Wennersen did a session based on the book Breaking the Missional Code. Great stuff. Every culture has a code that has to be broken if we are going to effectively reach it. Breaking the code is going to require leaders having commitment, character, courage, a sense of calling, competence, and comprehension.
Archive for the ‘missional’ Category
Out of the Loop
Posted in church planting, ministry, missional on February 22, 2008| 1 Comment »
Rebounding with Rebound
Posted in community, homeless, ministry, missional, outreach, small groups on December 11, 2007| 1 Comment »
Our men’s small group hit the streets of Washington DC last night to feed homeless people. We went out with a ministry called Rebound. We basically gave out small bags of food and showed the love of Christ. Rebound has been feeding the homeless for the seven years. We started giving out food after 10:00pm. We didn’t finish until 12:17 a.m. It was an awesome experience. It’s amazing how much we take for granted. Most of them were very appreciated and touched by us coming out to feed them. It was so simple, yet so profound. I’m glad to see that our small groups aren’t just meeting for bible study, but actually impacting the community. That’s what it’s all about!
The Open House
Posted in church planting, leadership, missional, Modern Times Coffeehouse, The Bridge, The Open House, Uncategorized, Washington D.C. on July 18, 2007| 2 Comments »
Our first “Open House “went well last night. Once we got to the Modern Times Coffeehouse, I found it to be more crowded than I realize. That’s when it hit me. “I have to cast the vision of our church in a room filled with unbelievers.” I was expecting the room to be empty. Boy, was I nervous! I stalled for as long as I could. It was too late to go back home. The first minute of my presentation was interrupted by a lady who was leaving. On her way out she said, “I love your printed material! Very creative!” She had our promo stuff in her hands, so I was pretty excited. Two individuals expressed a desire to be involved with our launch team. Yeah! Something else unexpected happened. A few members of the launch team became involved in faith based discussions with other individuals. These included conversations with a Catholic, who was opened, and an aethiest with tons of questions. Another guy was intrigued by the fact that we were meeting in a movie theater. I do have to admit. I would have felt more comfortable in a secluded environment. Yet, God has called us to be a light in the midst of darkness; a people that go into the community and engage it. Influence is maximized outside the comfort zone. As difficult as that evening was for me, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Great news! I get to do it two more times next month!
Metro, Here We Come!
Posted in contextualization, metro, mission, missional, outreach, Washington D.C. on June 20, 2007| 1 Comment »
We are gearing up for our next InsideOut outreach event called iMetro. iMetro will be a series of outreach events that will take place at metro stops throughout Washington D.C. This Saturday, we plan on passing out 200 free fare cards. The amazing thing is that there are two major festivals in DC on that day: National Barbecue Battle and the DC Caribbean Carnival. We are hoping to take advantage of the traffic and connect with individuals that don’t know Christ. This outreach event is actually a second option to our proposed gas buy down. After our gas buy down attempts went belly up, we migrated back to this idea that came from my wife. It was obvious. Our mission field is a subway culture. Everyone in the DC area either rides the subway train or knows about it. Today’s Thought: contextualize, contextualize, contextualize. It’s easy to grab an idea from a book or website that worked in another context and duplicate it. After all, it has proven success. However, we always have to be sensitive to our own context.
Church Next Top Model
Posted in church, church planting, faith, fellowship church, influence, leadership, mission, missional, model, mosaic, north point, saddleback, seacost, thessalonians, willow creek on June 13, 2007| Leave a Comment »
As church planters, we usually have a model church that we admire. It may include churches such as Willow Creek, Saddleback, North Point, Mosaic, Seacoast, Fellowship Church in Texas, the list goes on and on. I too have a few churches that are under my radar. One of those churches is the Church of the Thessalonians. This verse has been blowing me away. “And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia – your faith in God has become known everywhere (I Thess. 1:7-8).” Everyone everywhere knew about this church. They were known for their enormous faith in God. This church made a tremendous impact on their community as people turned away from idols to serve the true and living God (1 Thess. 1:9). My Lesson for Today: Be known for influence. Sometimes there’s a deep longing within us to be known for being cool, slick, and charming. We mask in spiritual jargon, but we want to be the next big thing. We say we want to create disciples, but is that really our hearts desire? Or is it a mission statement that we place on the bulletin because it’s the Christian thing to do? Is our goal simply to gather people or create a movement that will raise up disciples that are known everywhere for their deep faith in God? I hope it’s the latter. That’s my goal.
A Walk to Remember
Posted in art, Christianity, church, church planting, diversity, El Salvador, Friendship Heights, marketing, metro, mission field, missional, multi-ethnic, pastoring, Portugal, promotion, subway, tenlytown, Uncategorized, Washington D.C. on June 12, 2007| Leave a Comment »
Today was another day in the field. Dale South, an SBCV missionary, and I hung out around Friendship Heights and Tenleytown. As a matter of fact, we WALKED from Friendship Heights past the Tenleytown metro stop. It was quite a lengthy walk, but very rewarding. We got a chance to talk a few people that worked in some of the office buildings along Wisconsin Avenue. Dale who is fluent in Spanish, engaged in a few conversations with some people from El Salvador and Portugal. I just nodded my head and smiled. I did understand the word “si.” “Si” was my cue to nod and smile. I was fully engaged in the English conversations, however. I handed out a few Bridge invitation cards. They seemed to be pretty excited about the church. Two ladies from El Salvador actually asked us for church cards. Of course, I didn’t know that until the conversation was over. I just handed it to them in the midst of all the Spanish.
Today’s lesson: Be ready at all times! When God opens up an opportunity to speak to someone about your new church, it is EXTREMELY helpful to have something to leave with them. We created two sizes of our promo cards. One is 4×6 inches and another version is the size of a business card. Thus far, the business card size has been most effective. People like the fact that they can slip it in their wallet or purse. Here is my two cents: Make your promo cards engaging and eye catching. Stay away from bland, cookie cutter, religious type clip art (doves carrying olive branches in their beaks, a cross with a ribbon wrapped around it, praying hands, etc). Go with something that represents the personality of the church and speaks the language of the context that you are in. For us, we are planting in a multi-ethnic, urban, professional-artsy type environment. I wanted our material to reflect that. Some people may argue that DC has a strong political and professional culture and that we could have gone with a more professional/sleek look. I wanted something that spoke to the more hidden art and fun edge of the culture, which seems to be the increasing pulse. For instance, I handed some out at a Chamber of Commerce meeting. One professional who was dressed in sleek business attire looked at the card and said, “Oh! These are so cool!!” Yeah. Everyone likes to have fun. Think about it. Who wants to come to the office on Sunday?
Pressing On, Hanging Out
Posted in Çafe Muse, church planting, community, Friendship Heights, incarnational, missional, outreach on June 1, 2007| Leave a Comment »
Those of you that have been keeping up with me can probably tell that my plate has been full these days. That’s the life of a church launcher. I’m going to take a breather by doing something I haven’t done in a few weeks: hanging out in the community. There are a few things that are happening in the Friendship Height area. One of FH happenings is an event called Cafe Muse. I’m hoping to take some of the launch team members with me. I discovered it on the web. The next one is June 4th. Believe it or not, the arts are alive and well in that area even though it doesn’t appears that way on the surface. The loud cries of Nieman Marcus and Tiffany’s seem to drown out the eclectic Joy of Motion dance theater or a wonderful Thai restaurant that is starting to become one of me and Dafnette’s little hang out spots. Low-price, great food, great atmosphere. What more can a pastor on a budget ask for. Anyway, we have a few outreach events planned for this summer that I’m pretty excited about. I’ll keep you guys posted.
Faith Rewards
Posted in art, church planting, Expression, faith, mission, missional, music, pastoring, poetry, trusting God on May 25, 2007| Leave a Comment »
I’m so excited! Smitty, the guy who played congas as the last Expression, told me he was going to be out of town. Ron Holmes, a friend of mine from Zion, is going to fill in for him! It is true. The just shall live by faith. God provides everything that we need according to his riches in glory. Debbie, my sister and Expression coordinator, even told me that there was another musician who was willing to volunteer tonight. However, we have enough musicians for tonight. It’s a blessing to see that this time we had more than we needed. Wow! I just realized something! We pretty much have a full band! We didn’t plan it that way. It just sort of evolved and mushroomed beyond our expectations. God freely moves when we “take our hands off” and submit all to him. The best thing that we can do is trust in God.
New Direction
Posted in church, church planting, community, marketing, meeting, missional, missions, Mosaic Church, organization, outreach, promotion, summer, Uncategorized on May 10, 2007| Leave a Comment »
Last night’s meeting was great. We were able to gain a better sense of direction. We’ve decided to cancel our preview services. I know…uuuhhhh. Instead, we are going to utilize the summer months to engage our community and develop an increased awareness for The Bridge. It’s warm outside and opportunities to engage our communities are endless: outdoor concerts, picnics in the park, outdoor art displays, handing out promo material while thousands of people walk the street…I can go on and on. I was encouraged and convicted of how Mosaic Church in Charlotte, NC took time to develop strong awareness in their community prior to their public launch. Sometimes, our eagerness to see the vision unfold can lead to premature birth. In addition, we always feel as if we have to be doing more. Sometimes, we can accomplish much more by doing far less.
Wrapping It Up in L.A.
Posted in culture, Ethos, evangelism, Los Angeles, mission, missional, Mosaic Church, the gospel on May 3, 2007| Leave a Comment »
Well, I’m wrapping things up in L.A. Today, I attended Ethos. We discussed means of reaching the culture in which we live. It’s always a blessing to engage in dialogue. I wonder how much more receptive unbeliever would be to the gospel if we chose to enter into a healthy life dialogue with them rather than try to win them over to Christ like anxious salesmen. We must admit. Our church culture has programmed us to see lost souls as a means of gaining spiritual commission. “Another soul won! Yes! I’m effective!” It then becomes easy to ignore those that seem hard to reach because…well…we may not earn our commission. We didn’t talk about this at Origin. Just random thoughts. That’s all.
Ju. Jones 
