Comments for missional space http://missionalspace.com Tue, 03 Aug 2010 17:11:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 Comment on I’m here…now what? by Strider http://missionalspace.com/?p=564&cpage=1#comment-1645 Strider Tue, 03 Aug 2010 17:11:58 +0000 http://missionalspace.com/?p=564#comment-1645 My good friend and mentor, Jim, spent 35 years in Peru and Bolivia finding people who had never seen outsiders before and telling them about Jesus. I asked him, 'Jim, how did you go about it? Did you just walk into the village and say, 'Hi everybody let me tell you about Jesus!'? He said, 'There is no secret formula. We walked into a community, looked around and let the Holy Spirit tell us what these people needed. I saw people with rotting teeth who were in terrible pain so I yanked out the teeth. They felt better and I told them about Jesus.' I said to him that I didn't know he knew anything about dentistry and he said, 'I don't!' I have lived by this example and trust it will be helpful- if not terrifying! My good friend and mentor, Jim, spent 35 years in Peru and Bolivia finding people who had never seen outsiders before and telling them about Jesus. I asked him, ‘Jim, how did you go about it? Did you just walk into the village and say, ‘Hi everybody let me tell you about Jesus!’? He said, ‘There is no secret formula. We walked into a community, looked around and let the Holy Spirit tell us what these people needed. I saw people with rotting teeth who were in terrible pain so I yanked out the teeth. They felt better and I told them about Jesus.’ I said to him that I didn’t know he knew anything about dentistry and he said, ‘I don’t!’
I have lived by this example and trust it will be helpful- if not terrifying!

]]> Comment on let’s give this another try by Chuck http://missionalspace.com/?p=561&cpage=1#comment-1638 Chuck Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:49:05 +0000 http://missionalspace.com/?p=561#comment-1638 Welcome back! I'm excited to hear how God has used your time in the US to speak to you! By the way, the jaded, negative thing...been there and in the process of coming out of that myself, and I have had to pause my blog as well. I think a holy discontention is needed by beilievers in this world, it's a part of spiritual growth . The struggle is to keep it holy. Chuck Welcome back! I’m excited to hear how God has used your time in the US to speak to you! By the way, the jaded, negative thing…been there and in the process of coming out of that myself, and I have had to pause my blog as well. I think a holy discontention is needed by beilievers in this world, it’s a part of spiritual growth . The struggle is to keep it holy.

Chuck

]]> Comment on About by Chris Hardy http://missionalspace.com/?page_id=11&cpage=1#comment-1634 Chris Hardy Sat, 24 Jul 2010 03:37:48 +0000 http://missionalspace.com/?page_id=11#comment-1634 Grady, I really enjoy your writing and the points yo make about missional living. I am also trying to help people re-think evangelism and sharing their faith so they can engage in it from a relational perspective in the context of authentic Christian community (not living in a compound type community, but living like we really care for one another because Jesus is the center of our lives). I would like to include missional space as one of the sites I follow on my blog http://21stcenturywineskins.com and invite you to take a look to see if any of the posts may help you and/or your readers as they reach out to those God brings into their life. Blessings, Chris Hardy Grady,
I really enjoy your writing and the points yo make about missional living. I am also trying to help people re-think evangelism and sharing their faith so they can engage in it from a relational perspective in the context of authentic Christian community (not living in a compound type community, but living like we really care for one another because Jesus is the center of our lives). I would like to include missional space as one of the sites I follow on my blog http://21stcenturywineskins.com and invite you to take a look to see if any of the posts may help you and/or your readers as they reach out to those God brings into their life.
Blessings,
Chris Hardy

]]> Comment on Did William Carey choose wisely? by MORPH http://missionalspace.com/?p=472&cpage=1#comment-1633 MORPH Mon, 05 Jul 2010 17:41:09 +0000 http://missionalspace.com/?p=472#comment-1633 Hi! I surfed to this site while I was researching some wellness related terms in google earlier today. Seeing that I ended up here I figured why not stay and browse a couple of your articles... enjoyable stuff. I'll be returning around for a second time later on for sure. Hi! I surfed to this site while I was researching some wellness related terms in google earlier today. Seeing that I ended up here I figured why not stay and browse a couple of your articles… enjoyable stuff. I’ll be returning around for a second time later on for sure.

]]> Comment on About by Dean Thomas http://missionalspace.com/?page_id=11&cpage=1#comment-1615 Dean Thomas Wed, 02 Jun 2010 22:05:33 +0000 http://missionalspace.com/?page_id=11#comment-1615 G'day Grady, would you mind if I incorporated your RSS feed into our site www.ignitionjournal.com Regards from Dean Thomas G’day Grady,

would you mind if I incorporated your RSS feed into our site http://www.ignitionjournal.com

Regards from
Dean Thomas

]]> Comment on What if we became learners? by C. Holland http://missionalspace.com/?p=552&cpage=1#comment-1612 C. Holland Tue, 01 Jun 2010 16:15:47 +0000 http://missionalspace.com/?p=552#comment-1612 It's one thing to do the necessary research on a mission field or church plant location ahead of arrival, but what I've learned is that there's no substitute for the lessons you learn when around the people you're ministering to. Giving missionaries and church planters time to absorb their new culture before deciding on action is so crucial. It’s one thing to do the necessary research on a mission field or church plant location ahead of arrival, but what I’ve learned is that there’s no substitute for the lessons you learn when around the people you’re ministering to. Giving missionaries and church planters time to absorb their new culture before deciding on action is so crucial.

]]> Comment on What if we became learners? by Nathan Phillingham http://missionalspace.com/?p=552&cpage=1#comment-1611 Nathan Phillingham Tue, 01 Jun 2010 08:21:15 +0000 http://missionalspace.com/?p=552#comment-1611 In any teaching situation i find myself, I begin by learning as much as i can about the other people who will share that experience with me. In fact, I set that as my second top priority - to learn as much as i can about the people with whom I am meeting. The other day I met with someone for 2.5 hours and asked five questions - the rest of the time she was speaking - and it was fascinating. You don't have to convict people of sinful behaviour, if given enough time, and as they go into the details of their life, they expose to themselves the false thinking and hypocrisy that dwells at a deep level, and the self-trust they employ to cover the weaknesses and wounds. My top priority is to proclaim the gospel of liberation from sin AND SHAME, but it is wonderful to see how that can happen with a few well placed questions and a lot of listening. Your own questions will expose your assumptions to them nad you can test how much they want to listen and hear what you have to say, by some wisely phrased and humble questions. To become a learner... Never assume anything Develop a listening style Learn to spot clues as to what is important to a person/tribe, and how they judge themselves Ask questions, even obvious ones Use the gospel as a moral benchmark but don't impose it on their behaviour Allow the gospel to be your secure mooring point in the maelstrom of someone else's turmoil Don't try to use the gospel as the 'solve every problem' response, but deal with specific situations by looking for the 'sin behind the sin'. (i.e. remember you don't have it all sorted, and need to be exposed to the same gospel healing as your interlocutor!) In any teaching situation i find myself, I begin by learning as much as i can about the other people who will share that experience with me. In fact, I set that as my second top priority – to learn as much as i can about the people with whom I am meeting. The other day I met with someone for 2.5 hours and asked five questions – the rest of the time she was speaking – and it was fascinating. You don’t have to convict people of sinful behaviour, if given enough time, and as they go into the details of their life, they expose to themselves the false thinking and hypocrisy that dwells at a deep level, and the self-trust they employ to cover the weaknesses and wounds.
My top priority is to proclaim the gospel of liberation from sin AND SHAME, but it is wonderful to see how that can happen with a few well placed questions and a lot of listening. Your own questions will expose your assumptions to them nad you can test how much they want to listen and hear what you have to say, by some wisely phrased and humble questions. To become a learner…
Never assume anything
Develop a listening style
Learn to spot clues as to what is important to a person/tribe, and how they judge themselves
Ask questions, even obvious ones
Use the gospel as a moral benchmark but don’t impose it on their behaviour
Allow the gospel to be your secure mooring point in the maelstrom of someone else’s turmoil
Don’t try to use the gospel as the ’solve every problem’ response, but deal with specific situations by looking for the ’sin behind the sin’. (i.e. remember you don’t have it all sorted, and need to be exposed to the same gospel healing as your interlocutor!)

]]> Comment on Could your church survive without sermons? by Alan Knox http://missionalspace.com/?p=538&cpage=1#comment-1608 Alan Knox Wed, 26 May 2010 17:03:53 +0000 http://missionalspace.com/?p=538#comment-1608 We use different kinds of teaching methods. Occasionally, someone will lecture for a few minutes, but that is followed by times of questions and discussions. While a sermon tends to be given by one person, there are almost always several people involved in teaching when we meet together. -Alan We use different kinds of teaching methods. Occasionally, someone will lecture for a few minutes, but that is followed by times of questions and discussions. While a sermon tends to be given by one person, there are almost always several people involved in teaching when we meet together.

-Alan

]]> Comment on Could your church survive without sermons? by Grady http://missionalspace.com/?p=538&cpage=1#comment-1604 Grady Tue, 25 May 2010 18:04:38 +0000 http://missionalspace.com/?p=538#comment-1604 Alan, What do you guys do? Alan,
What do you guys do?

]]> Comment on Could your church survive without sermons? by Alan Knox http://missionalspace.com/?p=538&cpage=1#comment-1601 Alan Knox Mon, 24 May 2010 23:24:44 +0000 http://missionalspace.com/?p=538#comment-1601 We don't have sermons, so, yeah, a church can survive and thrive without them. -Alan We don’t have sermons, so, yeah, a church can survive and thrive without them.

-Alan

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