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Tools & Trainings for Organic Church Movements
Issue No. 23 01.22.2009
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Does is surprise you that Jesus was intentional? He intentionally became a human zygote, grew up in His mother's and Joseph's home, He intentionally impacted humanity, He died and rose again intentionally and His current intention (absolute promise) is to return and take us all home one day. Yeah, it should not be surprising that Jesus knew where He was going as walked on this earth and He intentionally sent His followers ahead of Him to impact people with His good news.How is your spiritual intentionality? Bumping through life should not be the way of a Christ follower - we should be making the most of our time (Eph. 5:15-16). We should be moving about this life with spiritual intentionality. This will include things like; waking up early to commune with Jesus, being filled with the Spirit, aggressively looking for opportunities to share the life of Christ and being available to help and encourage people around us.Follow the example of Jesus - be intentional about it.
 Glad to be with you on this journey. Thanks for all you are. Ed
Church Multiplication Associates REGISTER NOW!
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 UPCOMING TRAININGS
Trainings in the planning stages for 2009
- Atlanta, GA // Story 1
- Dayton, OH // Story 1
- San Diego, CA // Story 1
- Mobile, AL // Story 1
- Chicago, IL // Story 2
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Featured Resources
 ReJesus: A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church.
by Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch
Just Released!
"How has it come about that the development of Christianity and the
church has given birth to a society, a civilization, a culture that are
completely opposite to what we read in the Bible, to what is
indisputably the text of the law, the prophets, Jesus and Paul?" So
adduces Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch from the introduction of their
newest book citing philosopher Jacques Ellul.
In ReJesus, Frost & Hirsch examine the practice of
everyday Christian spirituality and ultimately ask if what we practice
today is what Jesus passed down to his first century followers. The
authors note that many institutionalized forms of Christianity have
traded the radical way of Jesus for the stability of outward religious
expression. Frost & Hirsch issue a call to the church, therefore,
to refocus its spiritual practice upon the true Author and Foundation
of our faith.
 Organic Community: Creating a Place Where People Naturally Connect
by Joseph R. Myers
Community is a fundamental life search and one of the key aspects
people look for in a congregation. But community can't be forced,
controlled, or easily created. The problem, says Joseph R. Myers, is
that churches are too focused on developing programs instead of
concentrating on environments where community will spontaneously
emerge. Organic Community challenges key leaders to become
environmentalists-people who create or shape environments. Outlining
nine organizational tools for creating a healthy environment, Myers
shows readers how to diagnose their current situation and implement
patterns that will develop possibilities for healthy communities.
 The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church: And the Causes that Hinder It
by Roland Allen
Written in 1927 as a follow up to his Missionary Methods, the following was penned in the forward by Kenneth Grubb in
1960:
"It is only gradually that Roland Allen's Spontaneous Expansion of
the Church has established its reputation among those who are concerned with
the mission of the Church. This is odd since it is in many ways both a more
mature work than Missionary Methods: St Paul's or Ours? and also more relevant to the particular
tasks with which churches and missions have to wrestle today. Nevertheless, the
fact that a new edition is called for at the present juncture is, perhaps, a
recognition that the book contains much that needs to be said and read just
now."
What Allen was calling for 80 years ago and affirmed in the decades to follow
has "a lasting validity, and can be studied and re-studied with profit."
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Featured Article
 The Baby Has Arrived!from Neil Cole and his blog 1/19/09
My newest book, Organic Leadershiphas arrived at my house. It looks good. Not as thick as I was afraid it would be even though it is longer than my previous books. I will have some on hand (pre-release) for any of my upcoming conferences this month (January '09). We are also providing a free copy to the first 100 to register for our Organic Church Movements Conference in February 19-21, 2009 in Long Beach CA.
In Organic Leadership, I challenge many ideas about leadership and church life that we all take for granted. Many of them are faulty ideas about church leadership, which we continue to support but which have never really been evaluated in the light of Scripture...
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