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.