Missional Communities. You’ve read about them. You’ve heard people give talks on them. You’ve maybe seen a video or two on them. But at the end of the day, what IS a missional community and how do they actually work? Missional communities are one of the 2 environments and 5 practices Dwelling 1:14 advocates as
What does Dwelling 1:14 do? We train leaders in how to disciple their people to be missionaries in their own community. Simply put, we are about discipling missionaries. Over the years we have learned that the process for this must be kept simple or it won’t stick. If it is simple, it is sustainable. If
So you’ve been getting to know your neighbors over the last several months. Maybe you had a cookout last fall, took Christmas cookies around in mid-December, helped a neighbor or two with they’re spring project and have had several impromptu opportunities to chat as you see people out in the yard for a few minutes.
At Dwelling 1:14, the working definition of a disciple is “Someone who takes up the teachings and lifestyle of Jesus and shows others how to do the same.” So when we start to talk about how to “disciple” someone, we are talking about the process by which such a person is formed (discipled). In our
How do you disciple someone? Last weekend I was in Michigan talking with a room full of people about this very question. Afterwards, I was standing at the door saying goodbye to the folks when one elderly man came up to me and said, “You make it sound almost too simple.” I smiled and said,
For years I was unsure what discipling was. I knew how to teach people information about Jesus. (I was trained for that.) I knew how to inspire people with the love and truth of Jesus. (I had good models for that.) But discipling people? I struggled so much, in part, because most of the rest
I was recently with the pastors and wives of the Pastoral Leadership Institute (PLI) at their annual conference. It was a wonderful, overwhelming week for them. Lots of insights. Lots of information to take in and assimilate. Lots of vision. Lots of aspiration for what could be. Likewise, I coach several pastors who were at
The Missional Leader: Go First There’s no way to get around it. If you want your people to live a missional lifestyle, if you’re going to ask people to be missionaries in their own neighborhoods and workplaces, you have to go first. The leader goes first. It’s not enough to talk about it. It’s not
