 Tools & Trainings E-Newsletter Issue 54 May 9, 2011 |
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Safe Jesus?
Jesus is not about safe. He is the one who said things like... "I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves." "I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." "He who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." "Let the dead bury the dead-you follow me." These are not safe and wholesome words, they are words that shake us up and toss us out way past what is safe.
I have come up with two acronyms to expose some of our delusion regarding these things. The first reveals our inadequate theology of SAFE. The other is how Jesus wants us to embrace a theology of DEATH.
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Safe is...
Self-preservation = our mission
Avoidance of the world and risk = wisdom
Financial security = responsible faith
Education = maturity
This is what a theology of death looks like...
Die daily to who we are
Empowerment of others (not self) is our life
Acceptance of risk is normative
Theology is not just knowledge, but practice
Hold tight to Christ with an open hand for everything else.
Jesus said, "He who clings to his life shall lose it, but he who loses his life for my sake will find it." We need to embrace a theology of death, our lives depend upon it!
Pressing on,
Neil Cole
Originally posted here
We hope the trainings, resources and the article on How can I make disciples and work too? by Traver Dougherty below encourage & challenge you as you are living it out in your part of God's World.
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 Upcoming Trainings- Organic Greenhouse
 Orlando, FL // Story 1 & Story 2
June 10-12, 2011
@ Northland, A Church Distributed
with Neil Cole, Ross Rohde, Bill Levin and more
Registration open now - Reduced Price!
Florida Greenhouse Site
Cleveland, OH // Story 1
July 22-23, 2011
with Neil Cole & Ed Waken
Austin, TX // Story 1
August 11-13, 2011
with Neil Cole & Ed Waken
Embedded in the SENT Lab
Others in the works: Harrisburg, PA; New Orleans; Sydney, Australia
Click HERE for more Details and to Register
Other Organic Church Learning Opportunities
September 29 - October 1
Olathe, Kansas
with Alan Hirsch, Neil Cole, Hugh Halter, Michael Frost, Dan Kimball and more!
Website
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Featured Resources
 The Faith Of Leap: Embracing a Theology of Risk, Adventure and Courage
by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch
"This book hits on one of the most crucial elements we need to release church multiplication movements--if not the most significant missing ingredient. This is, in my opinion, Hirsch and Frost's best work to date and is must reading for anyone who wants to release missional movements."--Neil Cole >>For more Info, Excerpts or to Order  Live Sent: You Are A Letter
by Jason C. Dukes
See how giving yourself away in daily life means being to other people the letter of God's love that has been written on our hearts. Our community needs us, and our world needs us...to live sent. >>For more Info, Excerpts or to Order  Journeys To Significance: Charting a Leadership Course from the Life of Paul
by Neil Cole
"Neil gives the best interpretation of Paul's progress of ministry breakthrough insights that I have seen.... This interpretive biography of Paul is a valuable resource for a leader who wants to pursue the Leadership mandate (Hebrews 13:7,8) and learn from Paul's examples." -Dr. J. Robert Clinton
For the whole list of resources on Sale >> click HERE
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Free Resources
Also there are a host of audio files for you to listen to or download >> HERE or on iTunes
Online Map of Organic Churches and Networks
Check it out here and add your group! |
Resources from the Fields
Also there are some helpful works by folks in the CMA movement that have been self-published that we think you'll benefit from:
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By Keith Giles
Print: $9.99
Download: FREE
This book explores the radical difference between Church as we know it, and ekklesia as God intended it.
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By Keith Giles
Print: $8.99
Download: FREE
A collection of subversive conversations with Dallas Willard, Neil Cole, Frank Viola, Walter Kirn, Matt Redman, Jim Wallis, Todd Hunter, John Fischer, Dr. G.K. Beale and Dr. Scott Bartchy.
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By Keith Giles
Print: $12.97
Download: FREE
The Gospel message is one we must embody with our whole life. It's not a bumper sticker slogan or a call to repeat a prayer of confession. This new edition of the book features a forward from Neil Cole, author of "Organic Church" and founder of CMA Resources.
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 Pioneer Mission: The Travel Guide for Missional Adventures By Tim Nash and Peter J. Farmer Paperback: $15.11 Pioneer Mission is a rediscovery of one of the most important yet most overlooked aspects of Jesus's teaching. It cuts ... More >
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Recent Tweets
 @CMAResources
Orlando Story 1 & 2 Greenhouse Training with @Neil_Cole & @RossRohde - Early Bird Reg Ends 5/13! http://ow.ly/4QAkm
Just posted the ringing endorsements for #JourneysToSignificance by @hughhalter @reggiemcneal and more http://ow.ly/4QwvY
#JourneysToSignificance gives the best interpretation of Paul's progress of ministry breakthru insights that I have seen- J.Robert Clinton
Church 3.0 // Igreja 3.0 - @Neil_Cole w/ Portuguese Subtitles | Video http://ow.ly/4QrKZ
"It is not the local church that will change the world; it is Jesus." - @Neil_Cole (RT @birgitdotcom)
RT @jaesonma: Great leaders touch a heart before they ask for hand. Leadership is influence, nothing more nothing less. #leadership
RT @KyleConstable: @jeremiahspassio Are you following @CMAResources? They're awesome! // THANKS!
Handy churches: What could you learn from an illiterate Indian woman half a world away. By @godgrown http://ow.ly/1sSwhX
RT @CSteveSimms: A key to #organicchurch: no #ego to shut down the Holy Spirit's flow.
You do not finish well accidentally. Determine now that U will finish well or die trying! - @Neil_Cole http://ow.ly/4PzOw
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Featured Article
How Can I Make Disciples and Have A Job Too?
by Traver Dougherty
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For about the last decade I have studied hard to answer questions like these: What is a disciple? How do we make them? What does one look like when we're finished? Do we ever finish?
While I've made significant progress in answering these questions, for the better part of the last twenty years I have practiced making disciples as a full-time pastor. Now, as an "organic" church guy, that's gone. Whereas I used to meet weekly with guys, say once a week, at 6am, 8am, 10am, and 2pm, that's a thing of the past. Now, I work a "real" job. Talk about a game-changer. How in the world did the Apostle Paul do it?...
 ...About a month back, at Starbucks, a close friend of mine got out a piece of paper and started drawing a grid. On the grid, he detailed what he did during the week: family time, prayer time, Bible time, work time, and so on. The reason he scribbled out his schedule was to set a framework by which we could discuss making disciples. After finishing the rather detailed on-the-fly Excel sheet, he nervously started tapping the paper with the tip of his ballpoint pen. Over the next few minutes, while I just listened, he made statements like these: "I used to pride myself on time management, but now where am I supposed to find time to make disciples?" ...
...Read the rest HERE>>>
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