Books @ Leadership Network

The Permanent Revolution
By Hirsch and Catchim

Let the fireworks begin! You’ll either love The Permanent Revolution or you’ll hate it.

Hirsch and Catchim have opened a huge can of worms that has been rotting for centuries. What can am I referring to? The Apostolic can.

The authors declare that it is impossible for the church to reach maturity or unity without rediscovering the five-fold ministry in Eph. 4 - Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, and Teacher (APEST) because APEST is the genetic code of the ecclesia. But Western Christianity has diluted the genetic code by putting all ministry in the roles of pastor and teacher. They declare that rediscovering APEST has the power to awaken a dormant, irrelevant church.

But wait; there’s more. This five-fold ministry is given to all Christians, not just the clergy. The authors go on to say that without an active present day apostolic form of ministry there is no hope for Christianity. According to the authors only Apostles can drive a permanent revolution.

But that’s not all. The authors take their challenge to the church to another level - when we relegate our definition of ministry to pastor and teacher we are diluting the Gospel to fit our inadequate paradigm of ministry. In essence when we do this we extricate Jesus from our fellowship because Jesus embodied all of the five-fold ministries.

Listen to these words of the authors “By effectively exiling the Apostolic, Prophetic, and Evangelistic ministries, we have meddled with the very mechanism Jesus intended for us to be a fully functioning ecclesia. The result is that all ministry has been forced to fit into the predetermined formats of shepherd, and teacher and pastor and theologian, and nothing else has legitimacy.”

Need a lid for this can!

The problem is, the authors are correct in their reading of the New Testament. Most Christians have totally misread Eph. 4 and have eliminated the Apostolic, Prophetic, and Evangelistic ministry of the text, fitting it into our preconceived notions about ecclesia. And as a result of our failure to include the A in APEST denominations have
• Declined and become irrelevant to society
• Not matured as Jesus intended
• A fractured unity
• Become ingrown
• Relegated ministry to the professionals

Hirsch and Catchim have given us a wonderful treatment of one of the lost gems of our faith and all of us will be indebted to them for a long time to come. They haven’t just made these claims - they have extensively documented their conclusions, using just about every known discipline, including the Scriptures.

This could be the first postmodern apologetic some of us have been waiting for. It will remain on my desk for some time to come. But be ready for 325 tough pages.

I have always appreciated the research and writing of Jim Collins. Built to Last, Good to Great, and How the Mighty Fall have all clarified, reaffirmed, and provided a scientific research basis for many concepts I have been using in 35 years of consulting. I have had a lot of "Ah ha's" when reading Jim's books and hearing him speak.

This adventure of learning from Jim that is now about 17 years old is continued wonderfully through his latest book with Morten Hansen entitled Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck--Why Some Thrive Despite Them All.

Too many concepts abound in the book to try to talk about them in one sitting. Today, however, I was struck by the application of the principle of the 20 Mile March which he introduces in his chapter on fanatic discipline.

The basic concept--although there is deeper stuff when you get into it--is that it is better for an organization to journey a measured amount of distance forward each year than it is to rush forward and burn out. The measured journey will make much more significant progress in the long-term. [Jim is always about the long-term.]

The applications for this are virtually limitless. The one that smacked me in the face today relates to collective missional strategies by networks of congregations or denominational Great Commissions efforts. When a bunch of folks, congregations, and others put on a big push in a give metropolitan area, country, etc. to try to do something big and impactful in the short-term, they often totally miss the need to develop capacity and sustainability in the people on the field, in the grassroots, who will seek to harvest the impact in the days, weeks, months, and years following the emphasis.

Steady strategy implementation is always better than the big bang theory. Yet there is so much excitement and self-satisfaction for the providers of the Great Commission effort, that they can only see the short-term thrill and not the long-term capacity and sustainability needs.

Sad.

Posted via email from George Bullard's Posterous

 

On the Verge

 
Alan Hirsch and Dave Ferguson have given us a jewel in the book “On The Verge.”  Obviously by the title one can assume they sense Western Christianity is on the verge of something big- an apostolic movement of gigantic potential for the Church in the West. 

What I like about this book is the blending of a systematic dreamer (Alan Hirsch who has a brilliant mind) and an effective practioner (Dave Ferguson who has an impeccable track record). I’ve known both of these guys for more than a decade and I’ve never been disappointed by either. In fact it’s their coming together that excites me. The collaboration has produced a book you must read at least once and then implement.

I first met Dave in 2000 when one of the stops on our tour was held at his church.  I was impressed with his passion for transformation and the development of the Big Idea which has become the backbone of their multisite and church planting efforts.

I first met Alan in 2002 when he attended an event I pulled together on our island with twenty or so people who were probing the edges of what has become a push for an apostolic movement.  Among the group were such notables as Len Sweet, Ed Stetzer, Mark DeYmaz, Carl George, George Hunter, Bob Roberts, Dave Travis, Reggie McNeal and a host of other folks you would recognize.  I remember talking with Alan during the event and it was clear he had little use for any forms of institutional Christianity.

Since then Alan has moved more to the middle and now accepts the role the institutional church could play in this apostolic movement. At the same time Dave has become one of the leading voices in this movement which appears to be taking shape at this moment. Notice I said “appears.” It’s still too soon to say anything with certainty.

The book is divided into four parts- Imagine, Shift, Innovate, and Move.  Imagine a new form of church that is truly Apostolic. Make the Shift to this new form of church by embodying “movement practices.” Let your imagination run wild dreaming about this innovating paradigm. And then move to make the movement happen.  The first two sections are written by Alan with a response from Dave; the second two sections are written by Dave with a response by Alan.

The heart of the book is what the authors call the “Apostolic Genius” which every church has within its DNA.  The Apostolic Genius is more than just a way of thinking; it is also the intelligence that is found throughout the system the New Testament calls the “ecclesia.” The Apostolic Genius consists of six parts:

• Jesus is Lord is the capstone of the movement and is the only element of this intelligence that isn’t found in every other religious movement.
• Disciple making is essential because movements grow only in proportion to the number of new disciples. Apprenticing people into the way of Jesus is what defines the Christian movement and what is lacking in so many institutional churches.
• The missional-incarnational impulse means that mission is the catalyzing principle of the church and permeates everything the church does and is not just one department among many.
• An Apostolic environment is essential for any missional church and movement which means the primary ministry of a church is mission not maintenance.
• Organic systems point up our need to return to a people-centered understanding of ecclesia which has been lost in most institutional forms of Christianity.
• Communitas doesn’t refer to mere community as we are prone to think of it but more to a profound bond that moves participants from acquaintances to partners and from associates to comrades who are will to risk exploring the edges together.

The last chapter of the book is a thriller that you simply don’t want to miss. Dave shares the nitty-gritty of moving from the status quo to an apostolic movement.  Just to give you a taste here are four questions he asks:

• “Is your church more interested in quality programs or quality people?”
• “Is your church as passionate about sending people out as they are about bringing people in?”
• “Is your church content with addition, or does it long to see exponential reproduction?”
• “Is your church holding on to control, or are they leading with a harmonious blend of order and chaos?”

While Alan thinks the institutional local church can reach only 35-40% of a population, I’m convinced that missional communities will never reach more than 5 to 10% of the population unless, because of persecution, the Church has to go underground. However, when you couple outward focused churches with small groups that function like missional communities, you have the seeds of an Apostolic, missional movement that has the possibility of reaching more than 60% of the population.  This is my hope for the truly New Testament missional movement that may be underway today.

Bill Easum
www.churchconsultations.com
www.Billeasum.com

 

 

American Grace

I view Harvard’s Robert (Bob) Putnam as a public intellectual. He’s a top-rate scholar who writes in a very accessible style. Even the titles of his books are inviting. He writes a lot about the idea of community, including the prominent role that religion plays in creating a sense of community. Two of his previous books that have helped me most are Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival  of American Community and Better Together:  Restoring the American Community, Amazing Grace.

 

In October 2010 he released the much-awaited American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us, co-written with Robert Campbell of Notre Dame.It’s long (688 pages), and I’ve read only portions of it to date, plus I’ve heard Putnam speak on it. The book is a groundbreaking examination of religion in America. The gist: Unique among nations, America is deeply religious, religiously diverse, and remarkably tolerant. But in recent decades the nation’s religious landscape has been reshaped.

 

Here is Putnam and Campbell’s take on the last 50 years: In the 1960s, religious observance plummeted. Then in the 1970s and 1980s, a conservative reaction produced the rise of evangelicalism and the Religious Right. Since the 1990s, however, young people, turned off by that linkage between faith and conservative politics, have abandoned organized religion. The result has been a growing polarization—the ranks of religious conservatives and secular liberals have swelled, leaving a dwindling group of religious moderates in between. At the same time, personal interfaith ties are strengthening. Interfaith marriage (including inter-denominational marriages) has increased while religious identities have become more fluid. Putnam and Campbell show how this denser web of personal ties brings surprising interfaith tolerance, notwithstanding the so-called culture wars.

American Grace is based on two of the most comprehensive surveys ever conducted on religion and public life in America. It includes a dozen in-depth profiles of diverse congregations across the country, which illuminate how the trends described by Putnam and Campbell affect the lives of real Americans.

Nearly every chapter of American Grace contains a surprise about American religious life. To me the biggest research point is this: Religious Americans are better neighbors than secular Americans: more generous with their time and treasure even for secular causes. However, the explanation has less to do with faith than with their communities of faith.

At the very least, take a look at some of the reviews, such as this one from NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130264527

 

David Campbell (left) and Robert D. Putnam are faculty at Notre Dame and Harvard universities, respectively

 

Warren Bird, Ph.D., is Research Director at Leadership Network, and co-author of 21 books on various aspects of church health and innovation. His recent “Leadership Network” blogs include Updated Publishing Updates, Beyond Christendom Says Migration Keeps Transforming the Church, Terrific Biography of Rick Warren, The Soviet Plot to Kill God, The Worst Moment in Most Church Services, Excellent Resources for Church-Based Grants, Do White Churches Hold Others in Cultural Captivity?and Church Merger Phenomenon Continues to Expand,"We're Tired of Trying to Microwave Church Leaders" (1 of 3), "We're Tired of Trying to Microwave Church Leaders" (2 of 3), "We're Tired of Trying to Microwave Church Leaders" (3 of 3),The Christian Century on Megachurches

My Bookcase Dilemma

At any given time, I’m reading through several books. I’m typically in progress on the Bible, plus several newly published books – one on my nightstand, another in my travel bag, and one or two more on my office desk. I’ve even tried to use an e-reader, and have a book-in-progress there. Books have a definite future in my life, but do I need to keep them after I’ve read them?

While reading a book, I may take notes, but not on the book itself. I usually post things on my computer that I want to remember. Then I tend to give the book away. At least that’s what I’ve done in recent years, since finding that most books are available via any inter-library loan after they have been in print for awhile. My local public library can get almost anything (as can most libraries)since their inventory is online. Plus, under Google’s new book-scanning program, some books are available online for free in entirety. So why keep holding onto the book, taking up space and requiring an occasional dusting?

A year or two ago I made the decision to give away two books from my home library for each new one that I read. I’ve made progress in clearing out most college and grad school texts that I haven’t read since I graduated, and are outdated anyway. Now I’m wondering whether I should accelerate that pace.

What have you done? What do you recommend that I do with my library of once-read books that I’ll refer back to at most once or twice apiece over the next 20 years?

 

Warren Bird, Ph.D., is Research Director at Leadership Network, and co-author of 21 books on various aspects of church health and innovation. His recent “Leadership Network” books blogs include Updated Publishing Updates, Beyond Christendom Says Migration Keeps Transforming the Church, Terrific Biography of Rick Warren, The Soviet Plot to Kill God, The Worst Moment in Most Church Services, Excellent Resources for Church-Based Grants, Do White Churches Hold Others in Cultural Captivity?and Church Merger Phenomenon Continues to Expand,"We're Tired of Trying to Microwave Church Leaders" (1 of 3), "We're Tired of Trying to Microwave Church Leaders" (2 of 3), "We're Tired of Trying to Microwave Church Leaders" (3 of 3),The Christian Century on Megachurches

What the Church Can’t Afford to Miss

Below is a message from author Amy Hanson.

Order the book today! Baby Boomers and Beyond: Tapping the Ministry Talents and Passions of Adults over 50

Interview with Bob Roberts, author of Transformation

This week’s issue of Leadership Network Advance features an interview with Bob Roberts, author of Transformation, the third book in the Exponential Series.

Why did you write Transformation?
There was a time where I was discouraged our church wasn't growing. As I struggled with that, God seemed to say to me, "When will Jesus be enough? I felt it was a calling to give up seeking to build a big church and instead focus on hearing from God and obediently do as He leads.

I discovered what it meant to know not just the Gospel of Salvation, but the Gospel of the Kingdom--which is what Jesus talked about--and how it really is livable and transforming. I started on a journey and began to see things happen that were far more than I expected.

We have settled for way too little in terms of what it means to follow Jesus and how radically he changes ourselves, our church, the city, and the world when he truly gets a hold of us.

What ideas do you want readers to contemplate as they read Transformation?
Is Jesus enough for you? When he is the primary focus in your life, you'll start to make a difference in the world. We call it "Kingdom In / Kingdom Out." As the indwelling of the Holy Spirit works in a believer's life, the Christian goes out into his or her community to engage the world.

Once a community of Christians understands that being a disciple is more than being saved and studying the Bible, what if the church were the missionary? It would focus on a place, and mobilize the members according to their jobs and connect with the society first.

What do you hope readers take away from the book?
I hope readers understand they can be a disciple who is making a radical difference glocally (globally + locally), no matter who they are or what their job is. When we begin to obey Jesus, he takes everyday ordinary people in ordinary experiences and uses those things to be huge game changers in our lives and in the world.

Following Jesus is being a disciple. A disciple hears and obeys. We've made discipleship into something that is based on information, when it really should be more about behavior, engagement and personal disciplines. Those disciplines. . . continue reading this article.

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Stephanie Plagens is the Publications Manager for Leadership Network.