 Tools & Trainings E-Newsletter Issue 36 November 24, 2009
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Imprinting on Jesus
We want people to imprint on Christ from day one. Imprinting is a term from ornithology, the study of birds. When a baby gosling hatches, it imprints on the first moving object it sees. That object becomes its mother, and the gosling expects to be fed and protected by it.
When a person comes to faith in Christ, most churches tell them to just sit back and receive. They're spoon fed by the church. And what happens? They imprint on the church or the pastor. They expect the church to do everything. And we wonder why there are so many passive Christians.
There is an alternative. Christ immediately deployed people. Matthew was back with his friends. The Samaritan woman went back to her village. When a brand new Christian is thrust into a hostile environment with a mission, they're going to pray like crazy. That makes them imprint on Christ immediately.
- Neil Cole
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Upcoming Trainings- Organic Greenhouse
 San Luis Obispo, CA // Story 1
March 7-9, 2009
Chicago, IL // Story 1 & 2
February 2010
Trainings in the planning stages for 2009/10:
Long Beach, CA // Story 1
Twin Cities, Minnesota // Story 1
Detroit, MI // Story 1Canada, Kenya, Germany, Norway
Student Church Movements National Gathering
January 1-4, 2010
St. Louis, MOInfo & RegistrationVerge: Missional Community Conference
February 4-6, 2010
Austin, TX
Neil Cole, David Garrison, David Watson, Dave Gibbons and more
www.verge2010.org
CMA Conference 2010
We'll be doing a "Gathering in Globe, AZ"
A woodstock-esque festival- retreat, reconnect, refresh
April 9-11, 2010
Globe, Arizona
Stay tuned for details |
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Featured Article
Stages in the Journey of Organic Church
by Roger Thoman
I have been reflecting, for some time, on the stages that I have
seen and experienced in the simple/house/organic church journey. I
would love to have your feedback on this to help clarify and further
illuminate this subject.
When I speak of "stages" I do NOT speak of progressive steps. I am
not suggesting that one stage is better than the previous nor that this
is about a plan to follow. I am simply seeking to describe some
aspects of the journey itself. However, since the journey is one of
change and transformation, I thought it might be helpful to try to
describe some of the experiences in that journey that may be common to
most.
Also, these "stages" typically refer to those who are transitioning
from traditional church to simple/house church NOT to people who are
discovering church-life for the first time in their life.
1. Letting go of old paradigms of church life. This stage is described in a variety of ways from "taking the red pill,"...
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