The Power of Ecto

For those that didn't already know, I recently had my hard drive crash. Bummer? Yes. Luckily I had my wife's PC to play around with while my Mac was in the shop. But what the PC doesn't have is a great application I use for blogging called Ecto. Ecto is kinda like Microsoft Outlook for blogs. You can manage and create your posts offline, it gives you more control over photos and makes linking a snap. But most of all it makes posting easy. You never have to log in again. You simply type what you have to say and post it. It automatically spell-checks everything, AND it handles all of your html needs. Ecto helps reduce my excuses for not blogging, and for that I'm thankful. Best 16 Euros I've spent online. So, if you're thinking of getting into this blogging thing, get Ecto.

Matt

Field Trip To Ikon

I wanted to put the word out on the street about a field trip up to Ikon on the 26th of Feb. Ikon is a community in Belfast exploring what it means to be "emerging." They meet once a month at Whites Tavern (see website for directions). The night starts at 6:30pm.

As those trying to figure out what it means to be missional in todays culture, I think there is a lot we could learn from this bunch.

Let me know if there is any interest out there. Would love to have a few conversation partners along for the ride.

Matt

Sunday Worship @ the National Gallery

This Sunday we will be heading over to the National Art Gallery for a time of community and reflection. Afterwards, weather permitting, we will go over to Merrion Square Park for a picnic. This is a bring your own lunch event but it would be great if we brought stuff to share as well. We are planning to gather at the gallery at 11:30am. Hope you can be there.

Frost on The Shaping of Things To Come

Had a great meeting with Roy and Scott today. Great guys doing some awesome things in Dublin. Roy pointed me to some Mike Frost lectures in which he goes through the main themes in his book. Download and listen to the mp3s when you get the chance.

Neil Cole on Church

Dad brought this to my attention:

From Neil Cole:
In our organic church movement we have come to understand "church" as this:

The presence of Jesus among His people called out as a spiritual family to pursue His mission on this planet.

Granted, this is very broad, but I like a broad definition of church. The Scriptures don’t give a precise definition, so I’m not going to do that which God has not done. I want something that captures what the Scriptures say about the Kingdom of God. In one of only two places where Jesus mentions church in the Gospels, He says: “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst." (Matt. 18:20) His presence must be an important element of church.

From The Organic Church page 83

Emerging Church on ABC

ABC Television in the USA recently did a spotlight on the Emerging Church.

Thank Andrew for the link.

New Calendar

Just wanted to point out the new calendar available on the sidebar under "Journey Stuff." Get in on the Journey action.

Getting Missional Online

Well I just read about this site called Favorville and decided to check it out. Essentially it is a place where people come to offer favours and seek favours. Guess what, they have a Dublin, Ireland location. After checking it out it seems to not be specific to Dublin, Ireland however. That said, the site is still in its beta phase and I'm sure they'll fix it. It's kinda like a craigslist for favours. Both of these sites rely on web-community for existence. I wonder what the possibilities are for missional movements within these (and other) sites?

The Missional Church

Thanks Dad, Andrew Jones and a host of others for highlighting this post by Larry Chouinard. He gives 16 Features of the Missional Church:

“A missional church is one whose primary commitment is to the missionary calling of the people of God. . . it is one that aligns itself with God’s missionary purposes in the world. . . The missional church is a sent church with one of its defining values [incarnating Jesus’ life and values in the culture it is embedded]”.
(Frost and Hirsch, The Shaping of Things to Come, p.229)

(1) A missional church is externally focused.
(2) A missional church is culturally engaged without being absorbed.
(3) A missional church is incarnationally not institutionally driven.
(4) A missional church is about discipleship not church membership.
(5) A missional church is patterned after God's missionary purpose in the world.
(6) A missional church seeks to establish Kingdom outposts to retake territory under the control of the Evil One.
(7) A missionary church seeks to plant,grow, and multiply missionary communities.
(8) A missionary church trains and equips new leaders to enter territories under seige by Dark Forces. We learn in the context of mission not in the security of our comfort zone.
(9) A missional church highlights character, virtue, and compassionate deeds as the most effective witness to God's Kingdom.
(10) A missional church connects to Jesus through mission not doctrinal precision.
(11) A missional church adopts an organizational structure and internal forms based on mission not ecclesiastical traditions.
(12) A missional church sees itself as organic and not in static institutional forms.
(13) A missional church pursues relationships across generational, ethnic, economic and cultural lines of distinctions.
(14) A missional church seeks to partner with the community to "seek the shalom" of the community.
(15) A missional church assembles to seek God's presence and to be realigned with God's missionary purpose.
(16) A missionary church seeks to reawaken a movement ethos as together we engage our cultural context.

Emerging Church Postcards

Steve Taylor over at Emergent Kiwi is in the process of putting together some Emerging Church Postcards - basically short snippets of emerging churches from all over the world. So far the countries include Germany, England, Malaysia, Australia and Denmark but more arrive every week.

Andrew Jones in Next Wave Magazine

Thought I'd point us over to Andew Jones' latest work for Next Wave Magazine. The Magazine is a great resource if you have never read it. OK, I'm off to take care of a screaming kid.

Plunging Into the New Year

Some of us awoke New Years day well aware that it would not be a relaxing morning. We had arranged a few weeks prior to take a dive into the freezing Irish Sea as a fund raiser for the snowboarding trip we're taking in Feb. In all the busyness of the holidays almost everyone forgot. But a few of us decided to follow through with the flopped fund-raiser and simply make some good memories. So we suited up early in the morning and took a dip in the ice cold water with the ice cold wind. It was so cold getting out that I couldn't feel my legs. Good times. Check out the pictures of the plunge.