Power Over Fear

Can even the most unfortunate situations serve to advance the mission of God? Philippians 1 gives us evidence that it can. Paul was writing from a Roman jail to the church in Philippi when he writes this: "I want you to know brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has been known throughout the entire imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment are much more bold to speak the word without fear." (1:12-14)

Paul didn't let his circumstances stop him from proclaiming the gospel and being a cog in God's wheel as God fulfills his mission. In fact, he saw his circumstances as a way to advance God's mission to groups of people that would otherwise may not hear the gospel...the prison guards.

Not only that, but his boldness in difficult circumstances gives others courage to be bold as well. Prison is used as a deterrent to modify behavior. If Paul was thrown into prison for preaching, he was demonstrating that the threat of prison is no match for God and His gospel. The gospel would advance regardless even to those administrating his sentence.

The power of the gospel remains the same today as in Paul's time...so the question becomes what deters us from advancing God's mission? Examine yourself, give your fears to God and let God work through you to advance His mission. There is nothing powerful enough on earth to deter God, even your fears and anxieties.

Our Vision, God's Mission

Our vision at Morningside is to "pass the message of Christ to the next generation." David writes in Psalm 145 that "one generation shall commend your (the Lord's) works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts." (v. 4) He continues exhorting the one generation to declare His "fame of abundant goodness"; "sing aloud your righteousness"; "speak of the glory of your (His) kingdom"; "tell of your (His) power" and to make known to the children "your mighty deeds and the glorious splendor of your (His) kingdom."

Notice all the action that we are responsible for: declaring, singing, speaking, telling, and making known. Each of us are to communicate who God is, what He has done, and the hope that we have in Him as we go throughout life. This stuff is to be a part of our DNA...to be a part of the very essence of who we are.

This is one of the ways that God accomplishes His mission - through us telling the next generation. Let's be of good cheer and unashamed to continually tell the next generation (your kids, grandkids, and others in those age groups) the wonder and hope of our Lord.

Our Hearts and God's Mission

Ahhh, the heart of a missional lifestyle. Jesus taught His disciples that "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." (Matt. 12:34) If we really desire to transform our communities to the point where Christ is high and lifted up and to be used as instruments that God can use to make this happen, then our hearts must be changed. Not only in the salvation sense, but also in the ways we think, we speak, and live. It is walking the walk, just not talking the talk.

Only then will the world know that we are different and that difference is worth pursuing. May the Lord continually lean upon our hearts...purifying and refining them, so that the good treasure found in them may be used by God to draw our cities to Him.

Missional Expectations

God is so good. Not only does He tell us His mission, He also instructs on how to execute His mission. In Matthew 10 Jesus sends His 12 disciples out to transform Israel, but before they go He tells them what they can expect.

1) There will be those who will accept your Gospel messages and those who don't. (vv. 5-15) Don't worry about those who don't (shake off the dust from your feet 10:14) In other words, they are rejecting Jesus, not you. Remember that we are just the messengers, not the creator of the message.

2) Persecution will come. (vv. 16-24) Be discerning as you deliver Jesus' message and if you get into a bit of trouble, God's Spirit will guide and direct you.

3) Have no fear. (vv. 26-32) Because God is with you, who can come against you? God knows everything (even then number of hairs on your head) and values you greatly. Therefore, don't focus on what man can do to you, rather fear what God can do to you.

4) Jesus demands complete allegiance over family and friends. (vv. 34-39)

5) Should someone believe that the Gospel is true and trust Jesus, they will be saved. (vv. 40-42)

As we think about transforming our cities, it seems that these expectations still hold true today. Being "missional" is extraordinarily tough as the personal costs are high. Consider:

that many will scoff at our beliefs (after all their minds tell them that there are many ways to Heaven); this will emotionally hurt and discourage a great many of us from continuing to be missional. After all, who wants to be ridiculed?

that standing up for the Gospel will get us into trouble from time to time with our fellow man; this may include us being physically hurt or being unjustly treated and will stop a few more of us from continuing to be missional. After all, who what's to be ridiculed, possibly suffer personal injury and to be dealt with unjustly?

that the opposition can be so great that we begin to fear man, rather than God;

that it test our allegiance. Do we love family or our friends more than God? Many of us would say no, but when the rubber meets the road would who do you love more family or God?

These expectations sober us. We begin to see that this Jesus thing is more than just showing up for Sunday Service, but a lifestyle rooted in a conviction that this is the only way and a deep love for fellow man. Looking at the face of this, who in their right mind would subject themselves to this type of lifestyle? Unless the reward was far greater than the pain. Jesus promises us that our rewards are stored in Heaven. There is a great reward waiting for us. Do we have the courage to go get it?

Living in Accordance with God's Mission

People, especially young people, today can smell phoniness and hypocrisy very quickly. They yearn for authenticity, reality, and truth. They tell us not to say one thing and do another. They tells us that our hearts have to align with our words, attitudes, and actions otherwise we will lose credibility with them fast.

Jesus addresses these issues in Matthew 6 by teaching that we need to "beware of practicing righteousness before other people in order to be seen in by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven." It seems like the quickest way to lose credibility with others and God is to do something under a false premise. In Matthew 6 Jesus provides three examples where this plays itself out: giving, praying, and fasting. In each of these examples, it appears that the person giving, praying, or fasting has the need to draw attention to oneself rather than to God. Jesus points out hypocrisy in this type of behavior.

How can God work in people's lives who don't know Him, if we are continually drawing attention to ourselves and away from God? What does say about our hearts? Are they on board with God's agenda or our own? It seems that throughout Scripture the message is to lay low (position of humility) and look high (directing our affections and thoughts to them, not ourselves).

Let's examine ourselves and root out our behaviors that others can sniff out as not being true and authentic toward God. Let's live in accordance to God's mission.

Just What is Missional?

Below is and excerpt from a blog named The Missional Challenge and it gives a fairly straight forward explanation what what it means to be missional.

"Here is a simple explanation of the word missional—it describes being a missionary everywhere you are! It is about doing missions—aligning your life with the redemptive mission of Jesus in the world. It includes adopting the posture of a missionary in order to engage those in the culture around you with the gospel message. It is based on the recognition that every believer has been sent by Jesus as Christian missionaries with the good news of salvation together in community with other believers to their specific geographic and cultural context. Just as God sent Jesus, Jesus sends all believers (John 20:21)."

If you have some extra time, you can read the rest of his post here. The author of this blog, Dave Devries wrote his doctoral dissertation on this very subject and has uncovered a lot of stuff and has given careful thought to it.

Meeting People Where They Are - The Missional Path

Jesus provides a subtle yet powerful example of how we should engage with our cities. When reading about the beginning of Jesus' ministry, you will discover that He is always going and seeking people. This is how He found His disciples. Matthew 4 notes that He found Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John simply by walking by the Sea of Galilee. He did not expect them to come to Him while He sat in His house or the city square, but He was proactively searching for His disciples.

Likewise, Matthew notes that Jesus went throughout all of Galilee (think going throughout Central Arizona) teaching in the syngogues (he went to where people gathered). As His famed grew He continued going to different regions and cities. He went to Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and beyond the Jordan river.

It seems that this can be very instructional to us. Jesus was on a mission to save His people from His sins and in order to accomplish His mission, He had to go and seek out His people. He had to let people know who He was and why He was there. Some would argue that this is what present day evangelists do (they go region to region and city to city proclaiming the Gospel) which certainly is true, but do they reach your neighbors, friends, co-workers, or family? Possibly some of them, but not all of them.

This is where we come into the picture. God wants to use Morningside as His instrument to reach those we know and there are two ways of accomplishing this: either going and seeking them individually or going where they gather as a group. Notice that either option involves going and seeking, it does not involve them coming to us.

Moringside is each of us...it is you. It is not a building...it is you. God want to use you as His instrument to transform the city of Phoenix for Christ...one neighbor, one family member, one friend, or one co-worker at a time by following Jesus' example and going and seeking them. Let us do that very thing.

Impacting Our Communities by Living the Way God Designed Us

What impact would we have in our cities, if we lived upright lives? This seems to be a fair question to ask and an appropriate one considering over 80% of those 16-29 year old view Christians as hypocrites. (See the research in the book unChristian for a penetrating look in how outsiders view Christians.)

Psalm 112 poetically chronicles the results of living upright lives. (one who fears the Lord and delights in His commandments.)

His kids will be pillars in the community and blessed. (v. 2)

He will prosper in the world. He will have a great marriage, kids, friends, and live a life of abundance, yet he will be remembered for his integrity, not his stuff. (v. 3)

He does the right thing even when he doesn't want to (v. 4)

People would describe him as gracious, merciful, and someone with integrity. (v. 4)

He is fair and impartial and uses money as tool to do good, rather than to hoard. (v. 5)

God is with him as his foot never slips. (v. 6)

He takes bad news in stride because his heart is buttressed by the Lord. He trust the Lord and does not lean on His own understanding, but in all his ways he acknowledges God, thus God will make his paths straight. (vv. 7-8)

He is a generous man always looking to give to those less fortunate than himself. (v. 9)

When he dies, he will be remembered for the uprightness in which he lived. (v. 3b, 6b, 9b)

He will be lifted up, greatly honored, and revered by everyone because of the life he lead. (v. 9c)


Would our cities, particularly those who view us as hypocrites, think differently about us if we lived a life described in this Psalm?

Would people want what we have just because the way we lived?

What will it take for our minds to be renewed and our desires to be changed in order us to live this type of life?

Could the way we live our lives be considered a part of being missional?

Would love your thoughts.

Staying Focused in the Midst of Temptation

At the heart of being missional is turning the affections of our cities to Christ and away from idols and other gods. This proves to be a very difficult challenge because as Christians this too is our battle. Our hearts are idol factories naturally prone to desire those things that gratify us, that give us pleasure, and that take up residence at the center of our lives.

If God's plan for redemption uses us as His instruments to turn the affections of our cities toward Him (which it is), then wouldn't it make sense that our affections must be turned toward Christ? That we must walk the walk? God instructs believers to forgo the temptation of worshiping other gods three times in Deuteronomy 13 and the temptation comes from three different directions: prophets, family, and everyday people. It seems that we will be tempted multiple times from multiple levels. The prophet is somewhat of an authority figure, the family member is close to us, and an everyday person can be persuasive. Scripture is telling us that our faith will be tested by those who seem like they know what they are talking about, by those who know and love us, and by those charismatic strangers who can make compelling arguments. Yet, God tells us not to listen to any of them, but to listen to Him only.

Today, let's commit to not getting persuaded by others, no matter their relationship to us, to pursue idols and other gods no matter how good they sound. Rather let's keep our eyes fixed on Jesus so that He can use us as His instruments to turn the affections of our cities (if ever so slightly) to Him and away from idols and other gods.

The Difficulty of Being Missional - Love in Hard Places

Often times in the midst of severe trials and tribulations, our hearts lose sight that the Lord is good and that He knows what is happening in our lives. There are times that it seems like the Lord has abandoned us or forsaken us because of the suffering and pain present in our lives.

In the context of being missional, that is going out into the culture and seeking to be used by God to transform it, our hearts can quickly become discouraged because of the pervasiveness of sin and hopelessness in some segments of society. Take for instance the the capital of the pornography industry in and around Northridge, California. If God placed on your heart to love those tied to that industry and you felt compelled to impact that industry for Christ, you would have plenty of heartache. Certainly, you would have victories, but they would pale in comparison to the setbacks and disappointments that you would encounter. (The porn industry is huge. It makes more money per year than the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB combined.) It is tremendously difficult emotional work that would drain the best of us.

This is where our hearts must be lifted up by our minds. Our minds know that our Heavenly Father rules and reigns from above today and forever more. Our minds also know that the earth will perish, but God will remain. We know that Christ has broken the power to sin by being victorious over death. Yet, our hearts often do not understand those truths in the midst of our trials. Our impatience wants immediate action, our zeal for good wants sin to go away now, and our hearts desperately desire deliverance.

If you find yourself in this situation, please remember to read and meditate on the Lament Psalms (like Psalm 102. There are about 50 Lament Psalms throughout Psalms.) You will be comforted and be able to identify with the emotions and experiences of the Psalmist, and you be reminded that God is good, in control, will ultimately triumph and will deliver you from your heartache.

Seizing the Land

It seems the thrust of being missional is finding a cultural relevant way to impact the society with the Gospel. As we read Scripture we observe that God always goes before us to make His promises a reality. For instance, Moses writes to the Jews in Deuteronomy 11 that if they love the Lord, always walk in His ways, and cling to Him only (no idol worship) that God will drive out the nations that occupy the promised land and that no one will be able to stand against them. We see this become a reality in the book of Joshua. This principle of placing our faith in Him, staying away from idols, and obeying His commands is the primer to fulfilling His promises through us.

In the context of being missional, it seems like the way to transform culture begins with a holiness on our part. It's true that God is not limited to using human beings as His instruments to change culture, but the weight of Scripture strongly suggests that He does. As we become more devoted to Him because we realize what He has done for us, not because we "have" to become more devoted to Him, it seems like He will go before us and to open up opportunities to serve others and to share His love with them. As we go and seek in obedience to Him, He will attract and connect those people whose hearts that He has previously softened (turning their hearts of stone into hearts of flesh).

Thus one by one, group by group, community by community, region by region, country by country, God uses people like you and me as His instruments to seize the land.

Serving Others

Serving others seems to be at the heart of the Missional talk. It's also the second half of the Greatest Commandment. Though God could use any means He wants to spread His Word of truth, grace and mercy, He chose people like you and me to deliver it. We are the instruments in His hand that He uses to touch peoples lives. By circumcising our hearts, we no longer resist God's plan to use us to affect the lives of those around us. Rather, we become willing vessels who joyfully serve the poor, the orphans, the widows, the lost, and the hurting. We become more focused helping others than helping ourselves. Through this process purpose, meaning, and passion reveal themselves to us and we live fuller, happier and more complete lives. Truly, it is better to give than to receive.

Dave Dunbar - "A New Imagination for the Church"

This is a very well developed and insightful article by Dave Dunbar, President of Biblical Seminary and publisher of Missional Journal for those of us who are interested in truly transforming our cities for Christ:

A New Imagination for the Church

Also, spend a little time on Mark Priddy's blog which posted Dunbar's article. He has many good ideas.