I found this by way of Jordon Cooper's Church of the Exiles site. It is from David Fitch's Reclaiming The Mission blog:

TEN THINGS ANYONE WHO JOINS IN A TWENTY FIRST CENTRUY MISSIONAL CHURCH PLANT SHOULD NOT EXPECT

1.) Should not expect to regularly come to church for just one hour, get what you need for your own personal growth and development, and your kid’s needs, and then leave til next Sunday. Expect mission to change your life. Expect however a richer life than you could have ever imagined.

2.) Should not expect that Jesus will fit in with every consumerist capitalist assumption, lifestyle, schedule or accoutrement you may have adopted before coming here. Expect to be freed from a lot of crap you will find out you never needed.

3.) Should not expect to be anonymous, unknown or be able to disappear in this church Body. Expect to be known and loved, supported in a glorious journey.

4.) Should not expect production style excellence all the time on Sunday worship gatherings. Expect organic, simple and authentic beauty.

5. Should not expect a raucous "light out" youth program that entertains the teenagers, puts on a show that gets the kids "pumped up," all without parental involvement. Instead as the years go by, with our children as part of our life, worship and mission (and when the light shows dim and the cool youth pastor with the spiked hair burns out) expect our youth to have an authentic relationship with God thru Christ that carries them through a lifetime of journey with God.

6.) Should not expect to always "feel good,"or ecstatic on Sunday mornings. Expect that there will ALSO be times of confession, lament, self-examination and just plain silence.

7.) Should not expect a lot of sermons that promise you God will prosper you with "the life you've always wanted" if you’ll just believe Him and step out on faith and give some more money for a bigger sanctuary. Expect sustenance for the journey.

8.) Should not expect rapid growth whereby we grow this church from 10 to a thousand in three years. Expect slower organic inefficient growth that engages people’s lives where they are at and sees troubled people who would have nothing to do with the gospel marvelously saved.

9.) Should not expect all the meetings to happen in a church building. Expect a lot of the gatherings will be in homes, or sites of mission.

10.) Should not expect arguments over style of music, color of carpet, or even doctrinal outlier issues like dispensationalism. Expect mission to drive the conversation.

O AND BY THE WAY … Should not expect that community comes to you …. I am sorry but true community in Christ will take some "effort"and a reshuffling of priorities for both you and your kids. Yes I know you want people to come to you and reach out to you and you’re hurting and busy. But assuming you are a follower of Christ (this message is not for strangers to the gospel) you must learn that the answer to all those things is to enter into the practices of "being the Body" in Christ, including sitting, eating, sharing and praying together.

If anyone out there is interested in this kind of place … join us or another missional church gathering somewhere.

Bob Hyatt quotes Mark Driscoll expounding on the "three" types of people who attended his church, observers, consumers and participants. Here's one Driscoll quote:

So this is the leadership conundrum: How does one pursue his God-given mission and help transform the observers and consumers into missionary participants? I wonder if Driscoll has solved that one for us...:)

First, a confession. I didn't really know Mark Palmer. I did meet him at a "unconference" at Jason Evans' home. He was there along with Eric Keck and Kevin Rains. It was shortly after the passing of his wife Jennifer. Have you ever seen someone who is anointed with the Holy Spirit? I can't really describe it, but Mark was one of those guys. Every word he spoke had reverb, you know? Anyway, about a year later Mark married Amy and a few months later he was diagnosed with cancer. He died just a couple of months ago. Today was his birthday and Amy remembers him in a touching post. He would have been 32.

Whatever your position on Country Music might be, I am sure that you know that the genre is full of stories and sentiment. I happen to like country music. One of my favorites is a guy named Kenny Rogers, you know, the Gambler. In his old age (he's about 67 now) he continues to put out an album every once in a while. I downloaded it on itunes last week and was minding my own business, listening, when a song called My Petition came on. It tells the story of a little boy who is going door-to-door circulating a petition for signature. Everything was fine until it came to the chorus:

It [the Petition] said: "Make a law where Daddy's don't work late;
"Keep Uncle Joe an' those soldiers safe;
"Give those kids on TV all they want to eat;
"Put a stop to bullies on the bus;
"No crime, no waits, no hate, no drugs.
"Give a blanket and a job to people on the street."
I said: "Son, sounds like a world I'd like to live in."
And I signed his petition.

Something must have gotten in my eyes, because they were watering for no reason. The thought came to me, that sounds like a good recipe for living a Christ-like life. Spend time with the kids, pray for the safety of soldiers, that is, pray for peace, feed the hungry, stand against oppression, care enough about your neighbors to lift them from rugged circumstances. Sounds like a good start. Anyone got a copy of that petition?

I didn't really know Chad Canipe. Over the years we had exchanged a few emails. He had written a couple of articles for Next-Wave, the first one was published in September 1999. It was a review of  a Leonard Sweet book. Chad was one of a number of ordained pastors who have given up the role of paid clergy to pursue something called "missional" church planting.

He was part of that group of guys I watch with great interest, the ones in the Cincy area. I think of them as the emerging church "apostles." Through their blogs and their articles we get a glimpse of the post-denominational leadership of the church in the new millenium.

He died March 10 and his loved ones mourn. He is survived by his wife and two sons. Pray for them, take time to contribute to their care.

Via Jordon, this article in Christianity Today gives an indepth look at Rick Warren's plan to unleash a billion "world-class Christians" to attack the "giant" problems facing our world.

When Greg Q. gets going, look out! From the President to white middle class Christians like myself, he is throwing down the gauntlet in his raw and passionate rant, "I'm sorry." An excerpt: "Can't we all get past our own shit regarding our own personal 'place in this world' for 5 minutes and get this done?"

Preach it Greg, God forgive me for not feeling this in my gut...

These are just too good to not repost. From Steve Camp's web site, Audience of One: "Seven highly effective habits of the Contemporary Church that almost always guarantee church growth with very little spiritual impact:
1. Go political, not biblical
2. Go pragmatic, not theological
3. Go psychological, not discipleship
4. Go anthropocentric, not Christocentric
5. Go postmodern, not transcendent
6. Go “share your story”, not “all for His glory”
7. Go sickness, not sin; go disease not, disobedience

Seven highly effective habits of the Traditional Church that almost always guarantee church stagnation with very little spiritual impact:
1. Go traditional, not spiritual
2. Go legalistic, not grace
3. Go corporate, not community
4. Go “count converts”, not “make disciples”
5. Go pastoral/elder ruler, not shepherd/servant leader
6. Go more information, not Christlikeness
7. Go programs, not prayer

Seven highly effective habits of the Biblical Church that almost always guarantee God’s blessing and spiritual impact:
1. Go supremacy of God and His glory in worship
2. Go sola fide, sola scriptura, sola gratia, solus Christus, Soli Deo Gloria
3. Go The Great Commission and the Two Great Commandments
4. Go take care of the poor, the widow and the orphan
5. Go discipline of sin
6. Go pray without ceasing
7. Go equip the saints for the work of the ministry"

Matt and Katy Stevens lost their 10-yr. old son, Caleb in a traffic accident last weekend. Caleb was a missionary along with his parents and part of Chain Reaction. Jeremy Del Rio has written about their experience on his blog beginning with this entry. 

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