Having identified and clarified the idea of creational archetypes of APEST, as well as the stages of the hero’s journey, we are now in a position to better grasp the meaning of what has been called the “ascension gifting” described by Paul in Ephesians 4:8–11. But to understand the ascension gifting properly, we need…
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Not surprisingly, an exploration of archetypes in human society is similar to the idea that myths are foundational to both personal and group identity. Joseph Campbell has aptly demonstrated the ongoing power of primary myths (defining narratives) throughout human history. For my purposes, I just want to highlight a…
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Today, we have an exclusive look at Reframation : Seeing God, People and Mission Through Re-enchanted Frames , the new book by Alan Hirsch and Mark Nelson. This work...whoa! This new book takes a fresh, careful, studied and inspired at the Gospel. In the reading that follows, straight from Chapter One: Moving The…
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Recently I have had the opportunity of attending several of our denomination’s annual gatherings and immediately I recognize what our denominational leaders have long understood about our very congregational structure-- there is not one Conference like another. The culture, the ambiance, the spirit of the people…
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This year, I’ve upped my involvement in my kids’ schools. Lots of meetings, boards, PTAs and O’s, rehearsals, performances, car pools and class time. As a church planter, I think it’s been the best way to get grounded in the neighborhood and keep a finger on the pulse, not only of what is going on, but who people…
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Over my thirty years in ministry, the mention of APEST in the book of Ephesians has inspired so many thoughts and ideas. Putting these ideas into practice has built a lifetime of experience seeing these gifts bring renewed life into the expression of the Church. I came from a background where I was taught that the…
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Our culture is moving at the speed of busy. It’s like 5th gear, but extra: 6th gear. I can just hear our calendars expanding to fit the larger transmission (OK, no more mechanic metaphors). In most cases, 5Q is a new paradigm that we are trying to teach and in order to help the people in our spheres of leadership…
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“Don’t you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:13–14). So wrote Paul, though he was…
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This is the third primary commitment of a missional-incarnational church’s infiltration of society. If the church is living an intriguing new lifestyle that is so marked by goodness that it makes the gospel attractive, then to truly be effective it follows that this lifestyle must be lived in close proximity to…
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If the Christian church is to be incarnational and missional, as we believe the New Testament anticipates, and if it’s to abandon an us-and-them mentality, it will need to rediscover the biblical mode of impacting the world around it. The traditional-attractional church thinks about evangelism as sending out church…
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