January 3, 2017
Reweaving What Is Torn
Where are the dry places that need life? Habakkuk 2:14 tells us a day is coming when the knowledge of the Glory of the Lord will fill the earth like the water covers the sea. Recently I woke early…
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December 19, 2016
Just Give Them Jesus
But we fail if we don’t give them Jesus. The apostle Paul, in his letter to the church in Ephesus, states: “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for…
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December 14, 2016
How is a Church-On-Mission Organized?
(You can read the next part in the How Do We Do It series here.) Life is the program, and everyday is the mission. At one of the recent Saturate Every Day events, Jeff Vanderstelt and I were answering…
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November 28, 2016
Risk Aversion & Dangerous Dreamers
(Part eight in the Recovering Missional Moxie series from Alan Hirsch.) By and large the church as we know it tends to embody a culture of social restraint and risk aversion. We do not tend to think of “church” as a place…
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November 23, 2016
Transitioning Teams of Missionaries to Missional Communities
Enjoy this final post in Todd's Engstrom's short series on how to turn a "small group" culture into a "missional community" culture with the same group of people. In the last post, we looked at the move from small groups…
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November 18, 2016
Unleashed For Mission
Focusing too early on what I think they should do can actually rob them of the creative thinking and self-discovery they actually need. One of my life’s great passions is seeing others unleashed for the mission of God. I find…
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November 16, 2016
Transitioning Small Groups to Teams of Missionaries
Post three in a short series on how to turn a "small group" culture into a "missional community" culture with the same group of people by Todd Engstrom. Read part four here. In the last post, we looked at…
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November 14, 2016
3 Roadblocks to Sustainability
(Part seven in the Recovering Missional Moxie series from Alan Hirsch. Read part eight here.) Much real life, relationships, and spiritual meaning can be added by simplifying our lives to engage more fully in life. Throughout many years of being involved in…
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November 11, 2016
An American in Europe
We are all (regardless of nationality) prone to wander and seek our own security, approval, comfort, and control until we find our faith and trust in Jesus. Twelve years ago, I moved away from Europe, and yet it remains my…
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November 9, 2016
Transitioning Community Groups to Small Groups
Post two in a short series on how to turn a "small group" culture into a "missional community" culture with the same group of people by Todd Engstrom. Read part three here. In the last post, we looked at…
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November 7, 2016
Prayerful Planning for the Extrovert (and Introvert)
In the world of missional communities and church-planting, there’s a real misconception that to be effective you’ve got to be blowing the doors off your house every week. I wasn’t born a planner, but out of necessity I’ve gotten…
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November 4, 2016
We Must Go Where The People Are
(Part six in the Recovering Missional Moxie series from Alan Hirsch. Read part seven here.) We know from research that within three to five years of a person becoming a Christian, he or she will have no meaningful relationships with anyone outside the…
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November 2, 2016
Turning Group Culture With The Same Group of People
Post one in a short series by Todd Engstrom on how to turn a "small group" culture into a "missional community" culture with the same group of people. Read part two here. Community Group: The primary need of people in…
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October 31, 2016
The Biggest No Brainer
Start with this; What do you love, like, enjoy? Go do it, and redeem the time by inviting others into what you love to do. Just as Paul made his walk through the Shrines and Altars of Athens, we…
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October 28, 2016
“We Were Obedient That Day…”
How could I have known all that was to come? It is no secret to my friends that Halloween is my least favorite holiday. I grumble and complain about having to scrounge up outfits, the evil feel of it…
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October 26, 2016
We Need Eyes to See What He’s Doing
(Part five in the Recovering Missional Moxie series from Alan Hirsch. Read part six here.) If we are to be effective agents of God’s kingdom in this world, we need to be freed to see His kingdom express itself everywhere and…
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October 19, 2016
The Search for Meaning
(Part four in the Recovering Missional Moxie series from Alan Hirsch. Read part five here.) We are all born into a culture that gets to shape us—in fact, disciple us—from the time of birth to death. The overwhelming economic and social environment in…
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October 17, 2016
Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas
Cultural celebrations are not man-made institutions. Like much of God’s creation, holidays can be—and have been—distorted for all sorts of less-than-holy purposes. But what if “Santa” really isn’t an anagram for “Satan”? What if we can we redeem this…
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October 12, 2016
Reactivating Authentic Discipleship
(Part three in the Recovering Missional Moxie series from Alan Hirsch. Read part four here.) That people all across America (and the Western world, for that matter) think that Christians are fundamentally unlike Christ is a serious problem! An absolutely central issue…
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October 7, 2016
Unforced Rhythms of Grace
Life has rhythms. Learning to go with these rhythms was how Jesus organized His life. Jesus criticized His opponents in this area once by saying, “You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you…
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October 5, 2016
Back to Basics
(Part two of the Recovering Missional Moxie series from Alan Hirsch. Read part three here.) We need to think of the church more as an exponential people movement involving all of God’s people. Church is not an institution run by religious…
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October 3, 2016
What is a “Missional Community”?
(This post is part of 2-part series about all-of-life discipleship. Part 1 here.) All-of-life discipleship—learning to follow, trust, and obey Jesus in the everyday stuff of life and training others to do the same—requires submitting to and obeying God’s…
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September 28, 2016
Awaken the Sleeping Giant
(Part one a new series from Alan Hirsch. Read part two here.) The way we think of ourselves and conceive our most basic purposes in this world make a massive difference in the way we behave. I really do believe…
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September 23, 2016
Kids? Here’s what we do . . .
Have questions about student ministry, serving the marginalized and protecting our kids, and logistics ... get your answers here. Last week's blog post about how to care for, disciple, and include kids during small group or missional community meetings…
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September 19, 2016
It’s Not Us Vs. Them
Regenerate. Unregenerate. He uses us all. It is so easy to forget that God often uses non-Christians to move His kingdom project forward. It is a sad misunderstanding to assume God won’t, or can’t, use people who haven’t surrendered their life to…
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September 16, 2016
What Do We Do With the Kids?
Guest post by Jayne Vanderstelt. Keep in mind, when we think about children and our missional community, we ask: How can our children join us in the overall mission? How do we disciple them all week long? How do…
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August 26, 2016
Leading From Your Own Need for Jesus
We need people who have access to our lives, ask us hard questions, probe our motivations, and remind us of the freedom we’ve been given in Jesus. In a post I wrote a few years ago, I discussed how the…
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August 23, 2016
But . . . How Do We Do It?
(You can read the next part in the How Do We Do It series here.) The problem is that most people aren’t asking, not to mention listening. When I became a part of the Soma Family of Churches, I…
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August 12, 2016
A Life on Display
I live unbound to the ideas of who I think I should be; instead I choose to be who God created me to be. “Let your light shine before others so that they see your good deeds and glorify…
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August 8, 2016
Communities on Mission … Around The World
Gospel saturation is happening across the globe. I have the privilege of traveling the world to equip everyday folks in the gospel ... from church leaders, young people, to ministries and organizations ... here are some of those stories. Australia:…
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July 29, 2016
“Undoing” Wrong Thinking
Getting believers to obey God together in the midst of non-Christians is one of the most powerful witnesses to the gospel we have. I recently sat down with Brian Daniel from LifeWay's Groups Ministry blog to talk about helping churches and…
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July 25, 2016
EveryDay Seattle – Last Week for Early Bird Pricing!
Have you been tossing around the idea of coming to an EveryDay? Well, register now and take advantage of early bird pricing! But hurry; the discount ends soon! Or maybe you're still on the fence about whether or not this…
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July 15, 2016
It’s Summer – Be a Friend
Walking through life with people – sharing in the day to day. Several years ago we went to San Diego for three weeks to visit my family. While there, I kept thinking about my new friend, I missed her and…
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July 5, 2016
Six Ways Not To Waste Your Summer
Listen. Bless. Serve. Enjoy. July in Washington means the wet clouds have been chased away by longer sunny days, the Northwest hibernators are coming out of their caves. Summer in the Pacific Northwest is the best time to meet…
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June 30, 2016
Am I Called to Lead?
There are three more “typical” ways God calls people into leadership. Sometimes, people are led to start a missional community through, what most of us would call, the spectacular. They have a dream, and see seemingly bizarre signs, or…
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June 8, 2016
Start With a Common Mission
3 Ways to Share Mission The result of the church being sent is that we live as a community of disciples—not only devoted to Jesus and to one another—but devoted to our neighbors and our city, too. When we…
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