Lantern Road review chapter 5 Total Church

I especially like the concept of intentional church planting as a value. Church planting is the best means of evangelism and also of maintaining a thriving congregation. It is the natural result of healthy mission and community. The great commission in action is the church living out its purpose and without a mission mindset the church will stagnate. Without a deliberate strategy to plant new congregations the church will turn inward. I like the phrase on page 85 that "Church planting puts mission at the heart of the church and the church at the heart of mission." It is obvious as you read through Acts that Paul considered church planting his primary calling and that through him the church both in Jerusalem and Antioch found cause to rejoice. It is also obvious that both the church at Jerusalem and at Antioch considered church planting as a key means of expanding the kingdom of God in the earth. I also saw from the story of the man attending his first church business meeting on page 85, an insight into the means to making such events glorious. I love the heart of the man as he was preparing to attend the meeting and he's thinking that he is about to be allowed into the strategy meeting to plot the downfall of Satan. Wouldn't that make church planning meetings more exciting! The first paragraph on page 86 is powerful. How about the quote from Emil Brunner, "The church exists by mission as a fire exists by burning." I also appreciated the pointedness of comparing the church that is maintenance mode versus mission mode. There are too many great quotes to list them here but I think I underlined more in this chapter than in any other so far. The middle of page 87 has a sentence that I think sums up the value of community as the means for mission, "And God's purposes are not only to redeem people for himself, but also to reconcile them with one another." Page 88 also has a strong emphasis on what community really means, "a commitment to a local church", "a commitment to real people in a real local church with all their faults..." Also, "Commitment to the people of God is expressed through commitment to specific congregations." It is too easy to be faithful to a mystical unspecified body of Christ if we don't act faithfully to a specific identified body of Christ. Page 90 "the church provides the best context in which to ensure that all dimensions of Christian ministry and mission are integrated." I really enjoyed the section entitled "The Apostolic Approach to Mission" and also the following section "The Apostolic Approach to Community". I especially liked the explanation of house churches and why they were Paul's primary method. The bottom paragraph on page 93 concerning why small groups can minister most effectively and avoid the maintenance trap, was a very good paragraph. The argument for church renewal through church planting on pages 94-96 are worth the book by themselves. Lastly, in his conclusion on pages 96-98 his summation of the third camp is excellent. As I read through this book I am finding my own heart challenged and also awakened. I have a growing hunger to create a thriving community of true believers with a revelation of purpose and a drive to fulfill glory for Him and His kingdom.

Lantern Road review chapter 4 Total Church

Social Involvement - there was a time when the Church was the social compass, thermostat and conscience for all society, but that ministry has been abandoned to secular agencies with most often underlying motives. With that in mind I believe the church should step up whenever it can find an opportunity. I also believe that the church should be creative in finding ways to provide for the poor and marginalized. I would take issue with the writers inference that marginalized does not as often include those who are financially secure. I believe marginalized should encompass all those who are poor in spirit. Those who recognize that they are spiritually and morally impoverished. I do appreciate the application of the title "enemy" in reference to those who do not know the king of the universe. I also appreciate that Jesus died for us when we were still enemies of the cross. The writers get the parable of the prodigal right. Jesus does show the glory of God's grace as father of the prodigal, but the parable was addressed to the insensitivity of the pharisees. The ultimate point of the parable is will you join the party of God's mercy and for the most part the church has refused to attend. Jesus mission was the poor and marginalized. The writer states that Jesus went out of his way to touch them, but actually they were right in the center of the path of the Father's will for him and also for us. Unfortunately we really do have the idea that ministry is "going out of the way" instead of right on the way. When Jesus said "go" in Matthew 28 it was in the context of his own parable of the wedding feast when he told his servants to "go into the highways and byways and compel them to come in". Our real poverty in the church is that we have lost our way and that we have no idea what "compel" means. For some it means preach fire and brimstone, but really it is the idea of a compelling love that invites people into community. On page 73 it says "Indeed part of our evangelism to the rich is our evangelism to the needy" and that is exactly right. Paul said to instruct the rich to help the needy. It goes on to say, "We subvert their preoccupation with power and success as they see us loving the unlovely. We expose their self-righteousness and selfishness as they see us eating with outcasts. They begin to see Jesus living through us." I would also add that this is how we expose those who are rich in our own body of believers to the opportunity to share with the needy, as we invite them to join us in our reaching out to those who have not.
I was also challenged by the story used as illustration on pages 74 and 75, especially the statistic on page 75 that 80% of Christians live in the top 20 wealthiest areas in the country. I realize this was a specific statistic to, I believe, England, but it is likely reflective of our own nation. I also liked the idea of reversing socioeconomic concepts. For sure the concept of the kingdom is reversed from the ideology of western values. I asterisked most of the section entitled "A Word for the Poor and Marginalized" on pages 76-79. On page 78 I deeply appreciated the thought regarding keeping the eternal plight of people in mind as the only way to keep from allowing the natural need from always forcing its way to the top. They state, "The most loving thing thing we can do for the poor is to proclaim the good news of eternal salvation through Christ." That is our chief help for any person rich or poor and without that hope all else is meaningless. Then they state their 3 assertions about the relationship between evangelism and social action, I thought this was very good.
I also marked up most of the section titled "A Community for the Poor and Marginalized". On page 81 they make a very true and pointed statement about what moved Jesus concerning the Pharisaical response to the woman who wiped Jesus feet with her hair, "What provokes him into action is not the sin he sees in the heart of the woman, but the sin he sees in the heart of Simon the host." The final page of the chapter, page 84, is rich with insight. "God gives the gift of faith disproportionately to the marginalized." is a powerful statement. Also the final two paragraphs deserve much meditation. I have recently read reports of discouragement in third world nations where the prosperity gospel deceived many and has led to much questioning in the lives of people who were taught that their lives would change in the realm of finance if they accepted Jesus. His heart must be stirred to the discouragement of false promises decreed and proclaimed in His name. Eternity waits and there is no poverty in forever with Jesus.

Chapter 3 - Total Church

Evangelism, why is that such an intimidating word for Christians? On page 54 they state their convictions about evangelism, "Our conviction is that Christians are called to a duel fidelity - fidelity to the core content of the gospel accompanied by fidelity to the primary context of a believing community". For years I have witnessed the success of lifestyle evangelism when there is a willingness to present the gospel as the opportunity presents itself. Most "lifestyle evangelism" never gets to the point of presentation but when there is a willingness there is often success at some level. I also like the idea of moving people along in their search rather than thinking an all or nothing approach is the only measure of success. We look for fertile fields and realize our responsibility to sow and wait and reap. The thing I like most about this chapter is the introduction of another method of lifestyle evangelism, community lifestyle evangelism. There is no doubt that the number one barrier to evangelism is the perception of the church as outdated. Certainly then our first obstacle to overcome is that perception and introduction to community is vital. I also realized as I read this chapter that community groups creates a gospel path. They will know that you are my disciples by your love is the path Jesus laid out for the church to present the gospel to the world. When Jesus said "go and teach" he certainly intended the use of words, but also the demonstration of the power and that power is not only the miraculous, but is especially the unbelievable. People loving in community is unbelievable! On page 57, I placed asterisks and exclamation points next to the comments about Paul from I Thessalonians 2:8. On page 59 the writers comment that in their experience "people are often attracted to the Christian community before they are attracted to the gospel." The writer goes on to say that the issue then becomes, how to introduce people to the Christian community more than how to introduce them to the gospel. The emphasis of course must be that Christian community is not the Sunday morning service, but actually community in action. They also say that too often we are trying to answer questions people are not asking yet.
The 3 strands of evangelism are helpful in keeping us mindful of our task, building relationships, sharing the gospel and introducing people to community. I like it that they don't make it legalistic, but rather present it as something to keep in mind and not to force in any particular order. I also like the gifting comparisons on page 62 so that no one has to step out of their gifting to feel useful.
Gospel intentionality is an imperative in the concept of kingdom growth. Adding people is not the goal, but adding solidly converted, heart and life changed people is. Also on page 64 I found myself challenged by the statement that "we often assume we need to organize something." Then he follows with the sentence, "But there are plenty of opportunities we can join, attend, visit, or participate." He also states, "All of this requires people who are proactively committed to speaking the gospel to unbelievers." That is the key ingredient that I would love to awaken in the hearts of our own community. On page 65 he says, "The communities to which we introduce people must be communities in which "Godtalk" is normal. This means talking about what we are reading in the Bible, praying together whenever we share needs, delighting together in the gospel, and sharing our spiritual struggles, not only with Christians, but with unbelievers." All this is powerful stuff when it becomes the normal environment of Christian community. I also like how they state that even with all this they work hard at not making their times together appear strange by explaining things and making the unbeliever feel as comfortable as possible.
I am challenged to ask, 'What can we do to make this happen?' 'How can we transform ourselves into kingdom ambassadors?' 'Where are the opportunities to invade the gates of Hell?' 'Are our community meetings representing the gospel well?'