Missional Monday: Mission of God Study Bible, Missio Alliance, crippledJesus, and More

Here’s a quick recap of last week’s major highlights from the missional conversation: The new Mission of God Study Bible bowed on Friday, edited by Ed Stetzer and Philip Nation, with contributions from mostly conservative evangelicals such as Christopher Wright. The video (above) illustrates the creative use of QR codes that makes the book more [...]

What Can the Missional Mainline Learn from the Underground Church in China?

Here’s a fascinating new interview with Alan Hirsch, of the Forge Network, conducted by Sean Gladding for Asbury Seminary, a United Methodist seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. In this first part of the interview, Gladding asks Hirsch if he has any hope for the mainline (specifically the United Methodist Church) in making the missional shift, and [...]

Would You Wear a crippledJesus Necklace?

Cris and Philip Zimmermann are brothers in Germany, who have started a business called crippledJesus, based on the theological ideas probably best expressed by Teresa of Avila in her poem “Christ Has No Body.” In this short video, they explain the idea between the cross necklaces they are producing (with the help of handicapped workers) [...]

Missional Is Not a New Program

Alan Roxburgh, speaking at the Inhabit Conference in Seattle earlier this year: “Many of you have a deep intuitive understanding that this disruptive Spirit is up to something, and that something that the Spirit is up to — that resides in the mystery of God, that we cannot quantify, we can’t turn into a workbook, [...]

Is Nextdoor.com the Killer App for Being Missional in the Suburbs?

The New York Times recently featured Nextdoor.com, calling it “a neighborhood-based social network.” The site is not yet available everywhere, but it does claim to be in more than 2,000 neighborhoods across the country. Harvard sociology professor Robert J. Sampson, who writes about “the enduring significance of place,” is quoted in the article, saying: “There’s [...]

Missional Places: Indianapolis

I’m in Indianapolis for a few days this week, and, although I’m stuck at a conference center for meetings most of the time, I am enjoying the people I’m with. I’m also getting a chance to connect with some friends who live here in Indy and who are engaged in the missional church conversation. I [...]

The Unlearning of Listening

Nathan Hill from The Table community in East Dallas, Texas, posted this short video interview with Luther Seminary PhD student John Ogren, in which Ogren gives this intriguing insight, “We want church plants to succeed so we put a lot of emphasis on strategy, planning, [and] working stuff out. So, unfortunately, a lot of times [...]

Our Ship Has Come In!

Yes, shifty missioners, Christmas has come early this year — in the form of this spiffing new video of N.T. Wright singing the Bob Dylan classic “When The Ship Comes In”: Bishop Wright says the song is “stuffed full of wonderful biblical imagery” and, as he says, “it’s basically eschatology.” While I’m impressed with his [...]

My ChurchNext Interview

To find out more about me (your Missional Shift blog host, Steve Knight), the work I do with Hope Partnership, and my thoughts on missional church, check out this recent, hour-long interview that Chris Yaw at ChurchNext.TV did with me: Did you watch the whole thing? What did you think? What did you like most [...]