The "Missional" Church

The following are a few articles with different views on the "Missional" church.
Lisa




What Does It Mean To Be Missional?  Should Christians Be Missional?

Answer: “Missional” or “missional living” is a Christian term that in essence describes a missionary lifestyle. Being missional includes embracing the posture, the thinking, behaviors, and practices of a missionary in order to reach others with the message of the gospel. The term “missional” gained its popularity towards the end of the 20th century with the influence of Tim Keller, Alan Hirsch, and others, as well as the Gospel and Our Culture Network. Their basic premise is that all Christians should be involved in the Great Commission of Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20).

Essentially, the idea of being missional teaches that the church has a mission because Jesus had a mission. There is one mission which says that the “missional church is a community of God’s people that defines itself, and organizes its life around, its real purpose of being an agent of God’s mission to the world. In other words, the church’s true and authentic organizing principle is mission. When the church is in mission, it is the true church.” Yet there has been some confusion regarding the term “missional.”

follow this link to read the rest of the article:  http://www.gotquestions.org/missional.html






What is a Missional Church?

We hear others talk about what they are “doing” at their church. And we tell people what we are “doing” at our church. But what Christians in all denominations are asking themselves and others is, are “doing” and “being” a Christian the same thing?

Something new is being discussed and embraced by Christians around the world. Many Christian writers are saying that the rise of the missional church is the single biggest development in Christianity since the Reformation.

Just as the medieval church was different from the church we see in the Book of Acts, the church after the Reformation looks totally different from its medieval predecessor. And the emerging missional church will just as dramatically distinguish itself from what we now call “church.”

read the rest of the article here...

The Missional Church: An Attempt to Combine the Great Commission with Unbiblical Ideas
By Joel Taylor, Pastor-Teacher

There are very disturbing ideas being promulgated in these modern times regarding the Church of Jesus Christ. It is being done not only by those on the proverbial religious fringe, but within mainstream protestant denominations; and not only that but by highly popular, and very public, so-called ‘new calvinists’ preachers and conference speakers.
I say disturbing, because those who are making such ideas popular seem to have a faulty understanding of the nature of the Church itself. That is not only disturbing – given their influence on the young, reformed and restless – but also dangerous. Dangerous because false. When it comes to Biblical truth and the proclamation thereof, false is bad.
Missional Falsehood
Missional. It is quite the buzzword these days. It is popular among ‘the reformed’. In fact, it is beyond popular, it is almost considered biblically necessary. From Tim Keller, Mark Driscoll and a hosts of SBC wanna-be’s to the Gospel Coalition, being missional is all the rage. It is also unbiblical, as presented, and I have no hesitation in saying so. In fact, I must say so, because those with whom influence rests are silent or participatory in it. They dare not risk their glorious theological careers.
read the rest of the article here...

Prophetic Update: Scoffers Will Come

http://harvestreno.org/messageVideo.asp?id=335&quality=high

Date Setters (Harold Camping)

Matthew 24:36"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." NASB


Please click on the following links to be redirected to the story.

The Rapture is near, billboard says

Rapture Predictor Harold Camping Suffers Stroke
It's interesting to note that it was his speech that was affected.   The very thing he used to spread his false teaching.

Prophetic Update: Scoffers Will Come

Harold Camping Admits Sin, Announces End to Doomsday Predictions

Should We Name Names?

      by Lisa Schwartzbeck

            I have wondered many times if we should be outspoken when it comes to naming names of apostate preachers, teachers and authors.    It is not a light thing to call someone out as a false teacher.      Isn't it enough to just show people what the latest apostasy is?  Do we really need to go so far as to tell them who is teaching what?  


        I look around myself in frustration and see so many brothers and sisters in Christ trotting off after this or that teaching without cracking open their Bibles and seeing if what they are being told lines up with Scripture.   I mean, after all, "this" teacher is very popular in Christian bookstores or "that" one is being heralded by another famous preacher or teacher.   Surely they have done their homework and checked it out with Scripture.   Right?    I mean, isn't it their job to screen these people for me?


       After much prayer and, following the instructions of Acts 17:11, I have seen that there is Scriptural precedence for naming names.   False teachers must be named publicly since their ministries are public.   Many baby Christians (and for that matter some mature Christians) simply cannot spot the more sly false teachers.   Satan is so very slick today.   He knows he cannot make a full frontal attack.   He must hide his pint of poison within the barrel of Truth. Otherwise even the the most immature of Christians could spot it.   Thankfully Christ has called us to different parts within the body of Christ.   It is a relief to me to know that when I miss something there is another brother or sister there to point me in the right direction.   What a gift to each other we are!   It grieves me to know that many let their pride get in the way of the leading of the Holy Spirit.   They often, sadly,  insist on following false teaching even when it is pointed out to them clearly in Scripture that they are following the wrong path.   They are caught up in cults of personality.   Emotions trump Truth.

 1 Timothy 1:18-20 NIV

 ¹⁸ Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, ¹⁹ holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith. ²⁰Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme. (emphasis added)

 
      Paul had sent Timothy to the church in Ephesus to combat heresy there.   As you can see in these verses Paul very clearly names the names of two people causing problems within the church.

        In Galations 2 we see Paul calling out Cephas publicly:

Galatians 2:11-14 NIV

 ¹¹ When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. ¹² For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. ¹³ The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. ¹⁴ When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs? (emphasis added)

       In 2 Timothy 4:1-4 and Titus 1:9 we are told to rebuke and oppose those that don't teach sound doctrine.

       The spiritual gift of discernment can sometimes seem like a curse.   No one wants to be told that they are wrong.   Even when this is done in a loving but firm way people are offended and embarrassed.  They are more worried about their own selfish pride than they are of being humble and obedient to the Lord.   Often the one that is defending Scriptural Truth is labeled as the divisive one, instead of the false teacher whom they are rebuking.   It is no fun at all to be the one that the Lord calls to this portion of the church body.   However, for those that are called to it take heart!   The Lord knows when you are obedient to His calling.  He sees when you defend His Word.  

The Rapture: The New Age Perspective

http://www.redmoonrising.com/21Defense/contrapture.htm

The Rapture: The New Age Perspective
According to the Bible there will be a future time when all of the believers in Jesus Christ are taken off of the earth to heaven to be protected from the time of terrible tribulation known as the Day of the Lord. This miraculous rescue is described in a number of Biblical passages such as Matthew 24:36-42,
   "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming."
And also 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17,
     "For the Lord himself  will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air..."   

The secular media approaches this far-out belief with much patronizing glee, seeming to ask, "What person in his right mind would actually believe such ridiculous nonsense!?" The truth is that there are many people other than just bible-thumping Christians who believe in a very similar future event:
New Age guru David Spangler writes that "those attuned to the old world" will be "transported through the [cosmic] law of attraction" to "another planet, plane of existence or level of earth's consciousness where they can be contained... the main point is that they will lose, for the time being, their access to the etheric planes of power and the ability to control or influence the developments upon earth." (Revelation, Birth of a New Age, pp.163-4) 
Best-selling New Age author, intellectual and promoter John Randolph Price was told by his spirit guide Asher, that in the near future two billion people who could not cope with the reality of the New Age would be wiped off the face of the earth during the future "cleansing" period. (1)

New Age channelers and gurus around the world predict an event very similar to the biblical rapture, yet from their point of view the rapture will not be an event which rescues God's faithful from His impending wrath on a wicked world, it will instead be an event that removes those who lack the proper spiritual vibration. It is said that those taken are those whose beliefs are characterized as "intolerant," "fearful" and "of the past." From the New Age perspective the rapture is seen as a global "cleansing action" that will remove "dark thought forces" to allow the earth to ascend to a higher plane of existence.  

Barbara Marciniak is another well-known New Age channeler who predicts this event. This woman claims to have been telepathically contacted by aliens who come from the star-system of the Pleiades, and she has written numerous books on the messages that she has channeled from them. These spirit beings tell her a number of things regarding the future "shift in consciousness,"
"If human beings do not change -- if they do not make the shift in values and realize that without Earth they could not be here -- then Earth, in its love for its own initiation, is reaching for a higher frequency, will bring about a cleansing that will balance it once again. There is the potential for many people to leave the planet in an afternoon." (2)

"The people who leave the planet during the time of Earth changes do not fit in here any longer, and they are stopping the harmony of Earth. When the time comes that perhaps 20 million people leave the planet at one time there will be a tremendous shift in consciousness for those who are remaining." (3)

"Some of you want to pretend that the earth changes are not occurring. However, they are occurring, and there is nothing to fear, for they are part of the process of the great shift... Whether you stay on the planet and alter your vibration, or you check out and sit in the bleachers to watch the show, doesn't really matter. On some level, in some avenue of existence, you will participate and you will learn." (4)

Thelma Terrell is yet another New Age author and trance-channeler. Also known by her spiritual name of "Tuella," she wrote a book entitled Project World Evacuation. They are messages channeled from a being who calls himself Ashtar, the leader of an alien confederation, and throughout it are documented the predictions that this spirit being has made regarding the future "evacuation" of a significant number of human beings from off of the surface of the earth. (5)
As New Age spirituality becomes more widespread the practice of channeling inter-dimensional beings increases as well. The internet is full of countless websites dedicated to this anti-biblical practice of contacting the spirit world. These sites document even more channelings which predict a future "cleansing action," "evacuation," or "transference" of a segment of humanity to another location.

Sheldan Nidle operates "The Planetary Activation Organization," based in Maui, Hawaii, which is dedicated to preparing the world for extra-terrestrial contact. His website contains articles which refer to an evacuation of certain people to special mother ships of the inter-galactic fleet. He writes that these people will then go through a special "orientation training" before being released. In another section one of Nidle's "lightworkers" asks him if New Age meditations and rituals might make an evacuation unnecessary. Nidle responds that although the rituals are essential the evacuation must still take place. (6)
The Ashtar Command is another internet-based organization that claims ET connections. They make mention of an "ascension" process that goes through several phases. The second wave of Ascension is described as "the beginning of the evacuation," but the timing of this event is not given because the announcement of dates "is not permitted." This group also recognizes the Lord Maitreya as the "current planetary Christ." The Ashtar Command has branches all over the world including Norway, Brazil, the Netherlands, Germany and the United States. (7)
Soleira and Santari Green are two channelers from England who communicate with a being who likes to call himself "Metatron." In one of their articles Metatron offers a warning to those who resist "unity" in the New Age,

"It is the time of the joining. It is the time of the choosing. And those who wish not to walk upon this path will be transitioned, transferred to a different reality. The time is upon us. The enemy is at hand and is about to become one with us and will be the enemy no longer. No longer will be there dark or light, good or bad. Only will there be unity and those who wish not to operate in unity, will operate elsewhere in another universe." (8)
Cristah is a Florida based "lightworker" who operates a website titled "Gateway to Oneness." Within her site are channeled messages which predict that the earth will soon be ascending into the fourth dimension, but that individuals who lack the proper vibration will be left behind. Apparently from the earth's point of view these individuals will simply appear to blink out of existence. (9)

These are just a few of the many channeled predictions regarding the future disappearance of millions of people that can be found within New Age literature and on the internet. This information is strong evidence in support of the Christian expectation of a miraculous Rapture of every Saved individual from the earth to heaven. The only difference is that the Bible predicts that the good people will be taken while New Age trance-channelers are being told that the bad people will be taken.

Sources
1. Johanna Michaelson, Like Lambs to the Slaughter: Your Child and the Occult, Harvest House, Eugene, OR, 1989, p.309

2. Barbara Marciniak, Bringers of the Dawn: Teachings from the Pleiadians, Bear and Co., 1992, p.162

3. ibid., p.167

4. Barbara Marciniak, Earth: Pleiadian Keys to the Living Library, Bear & Company, 1995, pp.220-221
5. Tuella, Project World Evacuation, Inner Light Publications, 1993

6. The Planetary Activation Organization- http://www.paoweb.com/index.html 
Evacuation to motherships- http://www.paoweb.com/sn112597.htm 
Will New Age rituals make an evacuation unneccessary (Question 6)?- http://www.paoweb.com/quesans1.htm 

7. The Ashtar Command- http://www.spiritweb.org/Spirit/ashtar-command.html 
The Ascension process- http://www.spiritweb.org/Spirit/ascension-plan-sananda.html 
Lord Maitreya is current planetary Christ- http://www.spiritweb.org/Spirit/our-mission-athena.html 

8. Metatron- http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~davidp/chan/uk-ch-2.htm 

9. Gateway To Oneness- http://gator.naples.net/~nfn02191/main.htm 
The earth's ascension and some held back- http://gator.naples.net/~nfn02191/10.28.96ch.htm

For more information on this subject and to see these quotes as well as many more go to- http://www.redmoonrising.com/newage.htm

How Can I Be Saved?

http://www.divineintervention.ws/

The Truth



You cannot be saved by being a 'good person':

"For by grace are ye saved through faith...Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8a-9 KJV)

And there are not 'many paths’ to God, there's only One:

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6 KJV)

The Bible tells us that everyone is a sinner:

"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" (Romans 3:23 KJV)

You must realize that there is a punishment for sin:

"For the wages of sin is death..." (Romans 6:23a KJV)

This does not mean only physical death, but also spiritual death:

"...fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matthew 10:28b KJV)

Jesus died on the cross for your sins:

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8 KJV)

And then He rose from the dead, conquering death:

"Him God raised up the third day, and showed him openly;" (Acts 10:40 KJV)

Because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, eternal life becomes a free gift from God:

"...by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." (Romans 5:18b KJV)

"...the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23b KJV)

But just like any gift, it doesn't become yours until you receive it. To receive God's gift of eternal life you must call on the name of the Lord:

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13 KJV)

Time is growing short and you should not put off your decision. The Bible tells us:

"(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)" (2 Corinthians 6:2 KJV)

There is no other way to be saved than by Jesus, and there is no better time than now to receive salvation.


Salvation

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Romans 10:9-10 KJV)

"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;" (Acts 3:19 KJV)

Jesus said He is the only way you can receive eternal life. The Bible says you must repent of your sins, confess Him as Lord and receive Him as your Savior. If you don't you will be condemned for eternity:

"He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:18 KJV)

To receive Jesus as your Savior simply do as the Bible tells us in Romans 10:9 above: Believe in His resurrection with your heart and confess Him as Lord with your mouth. You can say this prayer or one similar for your confession:

Dear Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner and need Your forgiveness. I believe that You died for my sins and God raised You from the dead. I'm sorry for my sins and want to turn from them and follow You. I now confess that You are Lord and ask You to come into my life and be my Savior. Thank You for saving me Lord Jesus. In Your Name, amen.

But you may be thinking, there's no example in the Bible of a 'sinner's prayer'. True, we’re saved by God’s grace through our faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8), not by a prayer. But we're told to "confess with our mouth" (Romans 10:9a) because the verbal confession is a product of our salvation (Romans 10:10b). If we’re not willing to confess Jesus as Lord before others, He will deny us before the Father in Heaven (Matthew 10:32-33). And heartfelt belief in His resurrection must also accompany the verbal confession (Romans 10:9b) because that belief produces righteousness (Romans 10:10a). Our outward confession is a product of our inward belief. One can say their own prayer for their confession, I only offer an example.

Remember the thief on the cross? He believed in Jesus and was saved by God’s grace, so he addressed Jesus as Lord and asked Him to remember him when He came into His Kingdom(Luke 23:42). That was the thief’s verbal confession of Jesus’ Lordship and his acknowledgment of Jesus’ resurrection by alluding to the Lord's future Kingdom to come.

So if you’ve just received Lord Jesus as your Savior welcome to the family of God and to eternal life! Please read and study your Bible and pray every day for guidance. If you don't have a Bible there is one online at Blue Letter Bible, or you can download free Bible and study software for your computer at E-Sword.

If you have questions about Jesus and salvation, or if you want to share your decision in receiving Jesus as your Savior, we would enjoy hearing from you. Please contact us through our website Divine Intervention.


What’s Next

Now that you have received Lord Jesus as your Savior, there are certain things we should do as Christians. We recommend attending a good Bible believing church so you can fellowship with other Christians and learn more about Jesus and God's Word. The Bible tells us:

"Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." (Hebrews 10:25 KJV)

The Lord commands us to support our local Church financially by giving it 10% of our income. This is known as ’tithing’ and is commanded in both the Old and New Testaments:

"And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD." (Leviticus 27:32 KJV)

"And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's..." (Mark 12:17 KJV)

Also, one way of proclaiming your Christian faith to others is to be baptized. Baptism is not necessary for salvation, but is a way for believers in Christ to publicly demonstrate our identity with Him:

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:" (Matthew 28:19 KJV)

"For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." (Galatians 3:27 KJV)

Jesus wants us to testify to others about the salvation He offers. Tell everyone what He has done in your life and can do in theirs. He wants us to continue what He began until He comes for us:

"And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come." (Luke 19:13 KJV)

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15 KJV)

You can know that you are saved and cannot lose your salvation. Jesus, Himself, declared that salvation through Him cannot be lost:

"And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." (John 10:28 KJV)

Our Heavenly Father promises that once you have received His Son as your Savior you are saved and are His forever:

"And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." (1 John 5:11-13 KJV)

We’re told not to sin after being saved, but if we do, as Christians we now have our Lord Jesus that speaks to the Father on our behalf:

"My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:1-2 KJV)


When we sin after being saved we should immediately confess our sin to God, ask for forgiveness, and turn from our sin. We don't lose our salvation when this happens. We lose our fellowship with God for a time, but not our relationship.