Oh, and that is how I became connected with theobloggers through Brad Palmore.

Yes, I will definitely upload some pictures...sorry, this has been a crazy week, so I will try to get some up soon and tell you more about your ministry here!

Thanks for this opportunity-I always love making connections and hope I can also be an encouragement! :) Blessings~

My first book was about the whole Da Vinci Code hoopla. My second book was called Hearts and Minds: Raising Your Child with a Christian View of the World. My third book was a daily devotional called The 52 Greatest Stories of the Bible. My next book is called Apology (it's about having conversations when we disagree over issues of faith & morality).

I write about the intersection of theology, psychology and philosophy. I consult w/ churches who want to create more relevant and engaging environments, and I coach preachers on scope and sequence issues relating to their preaching calendars.

Hello James

I am indeed a native of South Africa (5th or 6th generation I believe :) and I live in the North West province of South Africa. I am a tour operator in SA but I have also had the immense privelege being involved in Mission outreaches into Southern Africa since 1992. This spans the entire breadth of the region.. i.e. from Namibia in the west to Mozambique in the east and as far north as Malawi. Northern Mozambique has been the area I have extensively worked in since 1999 until present.
I have also been blessed to been involved in Prison Ministry for the last 9 years.
I have a huge passion for Africa and its people and the immense need to share the love of Christ with its people.

Be blessed

Frank

My pleasure James... we are plus 8 hrs (GMT+2hrs). Its now just after 8PM in SA.

My name is Yunusu Jonathan Mataka, whom you requested me as a friend in this Ministry. I mostrly minister among Moslems in Malawi. Sorry that I unknowingly clicked on ignore button. Would you come again.

In Jesus

Yunusu

thanks for the add

Thank you so much Sir, i am /Ernest , from Ghana,i belong to a local charismatic church and i would like to know more about outreach and i really want to serve and do the work of God , i feel it strongly in my heart. I have been going for evangelism and i want to live and fulfill the purpose for which God the Almighty made me that i may be blessings unto others. My strongest heart desire is to work the work of Him who make me and has called me from darkness into His light,my Creator.Can i please have any guidelines and teachings ? Thank you so much and hope to hear from you soon. Bye. Ernest.

Red Ribbon

That is my youngest (2yrs). I have one more who is 5 yrs old. This looks like a great ministry you have going here. We were actually talking about you the other day in a meeting and that is what brought me to your website. Chuck will hopefully be contacting you soon to talk about the word "missional." It's kind of a loaded word for PV and so we are looking for ways to defuse and come together as a leadership team, but I am sure Chuck will go more in depth when he calls.

I just talked with Chuck and he deferred to me to stay in contact with you and get some info. I would love to chat with you over the phone and talk a little more about our situation here at PV and possibly bringing you in to show us the way. Would you be available to talk sometime this week?

Sounds good, what number should i call you at?

sounds good...talk to you at 10:45

Yes. In fact I was at the CPM workshop I think that you said you attended last May in Bedford. In August, we hosted a CPM workshop here in Rwanda that was taught by David Watson. Our mission team in Rwanda is sold on the CPM principles and God is blessing the efforts of disciple makers here where the Church has a lot of problems and not a very good reputation. I am now editing a Disciple Makers newsletter for Africa.

I know I am a bit behind...but thanks so much for my birthday cake. Chocolate is my favorite!! :)

Hey James, it's good to hear from you! I hope Resurrection Sunday was full of celebration and hope for both you and your community. To answer your questions, no, I'm not going to Exponential this year although it's definitely a possibility for the future. Perhaps you're unaware that CoachNet has undergone some significant transitions over the past few months and as a result I am no longer serving with them.

In response to the developing the coaching network on MON, I'd like to know a bit more about what you have in mind for that. Perhaps we can set up a time in the next week or two to chat more about it.

Let me know what you think.

Peace,
Jon

Hey James! My family and I are doing well. Over the last 6 months, we have experienced our fair share of valleys and mountain tops; however, we're excited about the fresh directions the Lord seems to be leading us into. Our ministry has progressed through necessary changes, and now (even though we are still developing purposeful rhythms), we have committed to three basic tasks: discernment of the Lord through communal prayer and Scripture reading, sharing a lot of time with not-yet Christian friends or initiating new relationships with not-yet Christians, and (eventually) coaching and releasing others to do the same. I'm also doing some bi-vocational work at a local elementary school. Thanks for checking in on us!

I've worked with flash for the past year. I can help you with a flash "box". Of course I'll have to get a bit more info on what you are looking for, but I'm sure I can whip something up. are you at the office?

I really enjoyed the seminar. It was definitely worth the trip. You asked about how I know John Dobbs. I first met him around 2000 when he was in Pascagoula and I preached just a few miles down the road in Ocean Springs MS. That was in my legalistic days, and at that time I considered him a "liberal" and kept my distance. We reconnected through the internet a year or two ago. I don't know him real well, but he seems like a great guy. By the way, Danny, who attended the seminar with me, is having a serious and risky surgery tomorrow morning. I'd appreciate your saying a prayer for him. If he doesn't have the surgery, he has only a matter of weeks to live.

James, thanks for you encourage and for being a team player of Genesis Alliance.

James, These are my responses to your welcome comments (thank you!):

Dawn, what is your main interest in outreach and mission? I am co-coordinator of Merge Ministry at BMZ Church (Boscobel/Mt. Zion UMCs). Merge's mission is to do WHATEVER IT TAKES to get people in the door, keep them coming back, getting people connected (from 1st time guest to current member), organizing classes, small groups, helping new ministries/outreaches get starting, increasing out technology, helping make everything about church relevent...phew, no wonder I'm tired-lol! BMZ is actually 2 separate churches (1 small town/1 country) that share a pastor. We are working to make us 1 church with 2 campuses. In the last 2 years since Merge was created, we have added over about 75-100 attenders, and currently average around 350-400 between both campuses and 3 worship celebrations. Our town is a of barely pop. 3000, but we have people driving over an hour to attend with us. We are pretty missional, which accounts for a lot of our growth. But there's always more to do!!

I see that you know Chris Walker. Is he a personal friend, or did you connect on his website? His website--it's very helpful.

How goes the sharing of the gospel in Boscobel? We're doing whatever it takes to Know God, Love People, and Serve the World. Next weekend we are hosting our 2nd Leadership Summit to share what we've learned that is helping us to grow. Last year we have 60 pastors and other church leaders come...and are expecting 150 this year (that's about all we can hold in our current facility.

I'm excited to find your site and for another resource tool and opportunity to network. Thanks!!!

Hi James,

We can help you with your FBConnect request. We can discuss this by drop me a message here at info[at]symphonetworks[dot]com

Cheers.

LRon

I just started following Mike Ellis on twitter. I love his ideas and posts. I am in marketing at our church and have been so interested in reaching the lost through social media. This is very new to us. We have Facebook page and now twitter, but thinking twitter could become something really cool to find people who are hurting in this world. 3 years ago, we didn't even have a marketing dept at our church! Crazy! We are trying to push the limits and use all types of ways to reach people. We are just starting a sermon series called "Change the World; One Act a Time" and your website seemed compelling.

Saw the video clip and shared it with sr. pastor. Loved it!

The guys at Loud Creative designed it for us about a year ago. Looking to do some upgrades soon. Yours is easy to navigate to. McKinney, TX awesome...so close.

Sound great...we will take a look into it. Let me talk to sr. pastor.

Just shared this website on our FB page for the church.

We are involved in a local ministry called Cypress Assistance Ministries, which has a food pantry and other great stuff for the poor in our neighborhood. We are also heavily involved with Kairos prision ministry. Our youth have begun to focus on a ministry that is growing called Love Out Loud for special needs people in the community. http://cypressunited.org/ministry/7/104.htm . We just finished some local mission work during the Lent season and repaired houses. Even our 5th graders went out to serve.

Not sure how you can help right now. Information is coming in fast. Let me process this site and see how we can partner. Very excited.

God blessed me with ability, and time (as much as I'd like to have a job right now). It is in my nature to pay it forward. this is a small way that I can.
the only thing you'll have to do is fill out the xml file (a bunch of 1-liners) I'll email you a color-coded one like I did for the rotating cube.
1920x1080 are *very* large images, watch out for bandwidth gobbling, but other than that it should work fine.

Good

James, that good approach, I think there will be same people that would like to do the three columns at home. I am sure that will find some “sons of peace” from those attendees. I have not tried myself in that setting, but I thinks is great.

Thank you for the nice welcome. My interset in mission outreach is that I was just honored to be named Mission Outreach Champion for our new congregation and open to new ideas, resources, etc.

This campus began in Sept '09. We have had 2 mission outreach champions (that is what we call leaders). So far: raked neighborhood leaves, Thanksgiving dinner, food pantry food drive, feed the children food drive, did other odd fall spruce up jobs. Our pastor feels that this is the major area he wants to focus on to reach the lost. He wants all the small groups to be doing weekly outreaches (maybe adopt some area of need), plan monthly outreach events and then some bigger events through the year. With the change in leadership some things have been dropped. We want to incorporate prayerwalks into this but need to take that a step further. I am going to be anxious to see what others are doing. My official start date is next Wed. when we will have an organizational meeting - getting the vision down, etc.

James, I'm slowly getting started. After this month I can get my feet wet. We're closing our Trk business April 30, and everything is so helter skelter. Jim's not been home before 12 or 1 since Sunday nite. It looks like you're having a wonderful time in Orlando. Missed you Sunday. I hope everyone there discusses how "Upper MANGLEMENT" is trying to outlaw our National Day of Prayer next month!

Absolutely. I had already planned on that! I know God is with us; he's been guiding us for a long time. It makes a huge difference in your life when you: Be Still and know that I Am God.

Everything is going well! We had two more baptisms this last Sunday! We are thankful for the growth here in Caracas! I'm headed to the States for Furlough this next month! How are things where you are at?

Hey James, just trying to figure this out. Still in Kansas, struggling, we have elders again, it was actually a wonderful ordination ceremony, a first for me. Not sure when we will be more outward focused

I don't know Terron. Melissa and I are joining the second phase of some work in Northern Togo. Just recently some missionaries completed their stay in Southern Togo. That work goes back a ways.

Thanks, James. We just held our 2nd BMZ Leadership Summit last weekend. Our theme this year was "Essential." We shared the things we were doing to make Jesus, your church, missions, ministries, etc ESSENTIAL to the un-churched, de-churched, and over-churched. We had over 70 pastors & church leaders from all over WI & IA attend, some driving more than 5 hours. Exciting!

You previously asked how much of our grow is from unchurched. I don't have any stats, but my guess would be 70% or more would be classified as un- or de-churched (went to church at some time in their life, but had stopped). Off the top of my head, I know that our attendance has grown from an average of 60 in 2002 (both campuses/all worship celebrations combined) to 360+ in 2009!
I would say our growth is due to: 1) slowly (painfully) trying to changes Worship/kids & youth programs into something more relevant. 2) becoming more missional & reaching outside of our church (Pastor Stan has repeated the phrase "It's not about me (us)" more thimes than we can count)! 3) "Purple People (the name comes from having all our volunteers during our 1st Leadership Summit wear purple t-shirts so they could be easily spotted). PPs have replaced the regular greeters rotated from the membership rolls. Instead they have asked to be a PP, are trained in hospitality, body language, etc. We also try to follow up thorougly on every lead we get on our Merge (connection) cards. Assimilation is a ppriority...offering classes, Bible studies, small groups, missions that relate to & meet the needs of our local culture. Hospitality is being taught from the pulpit, at Sunday school, in the newsletter, & by example. [You just received an excerpt from my LS workshop--lol]!

Exactly what type of info would you like shared?...I will proabaly catch on as i spend more time on your site. So far it looks awesome =o)

Hey man, VERY good here. We are very tired after an intensive week last week and coast to coast travel. Kairos had a full house last night at their gathering. So good seeing so many friends we will spend eternity with. Hmm, who will be our new friends who will receive the same honor from Christ? Great to ponder. Love your network, BB

James, Chuck Whittle is on the Board of Trustees for ITCM. He personally established about 20 congregations in Russia.

Hi james,
My wife, Maxine, and I are members of the west End Church of Christ in Nashville. We moved here after fifteen years of work as missionaries in st. Petersburg, Russia and more than thirty years in business. The Lord blessed us with three daughters and one son and now seven grandchildren. I am enjoying serving with your father on the FBS/ITCM boards. Grace.

Thanks James!
I'm really enjoying it - its a perfect fit for me I think. I'm off for the summer which is great - I can spend some extra time with the boys and recharge for the Fall.

I'll upload a picture soon - I'll probably have Josh take a current one. I think all my pictures have one of the kids or Josh in them : )

How are you and your family?

yeah, I'd like to do that. I generally blog once a week anyway. Some ideas that I have for blogs I do not put on my own because they're a little more in-depth leadership/ministry focus than the general ethos of my personal blog. I'm in class this week and next, so I have a little less time for outside things, but I'll jump into MON more after that.

I don't think Josh and I crossed paths at OC (unless I've just forgotten). We connected via Twitter and Facebook a couple months ago though. I'm in a class on Organization Development right now. Really good.

"When Life Surprises" Jacob, Rachel, and Leah from Genesis 29

I am always looking for connections like this network. Part of my passion in life is to help churches who are traditional and operating from an inward focus to discover their true purpose and potential in Christ by seeing that the local church really is a missionary organism just as our God is a missionary God--that they are called to an outward and missional focus

James, here is a brief comment excerpted from a review I did. I could provide a more detailed one if it would help.

Kevin Harney has written one of the best and most useful books on evangelism of 2009. It is called Organic Outreach for Ordinary People (Zondervan. $14.99 paper). Subtitled Sharing Good News Naturally Harney's book supplies a wonderful resource on the basics of evangelism that is biblical, creative and highly practical. Divided into three sections: Preparing the Soil, Planting and Watering, Bearing Kingdom Fruit we are given insights into the biblical teaching on evangelism, the importance of prayer and incarnational living, and practical tools like engaging in spiritual conversations and telling your story.

Perhaps the best section of the book is the first where we are introduced to the need to embrace the Bible and truth (with a superb section called "Doctrine Matters"), the "One-Degree Rule: identifying the means of raising our evangelistic temperature, and "Everyone Plays," a compelling teaching on how the whole Church can get into the game, evangelistically.

Those familiar with Becoming a Contagious Christian and Becoming a Contagious Church will see some familiar ideas, especially in the final section on tools but pastors and evangelism leaders, especially those in traditional churches whose evangelism ministry can grown dormant, will find fresh and inspiring insights to help their people again catch a vision for sharing their faith.

Hey James! Thanks for the welcome! I'm still trying to figure things out and am currently fighting with my picture! :) My husband and I are currently attending the Stillwater Church of Christ and LOVE IT!!! We needed a bit of a change and have been in Stillwater for the past 2 years. I was born and raised in Perry, Oklahoma and grew up in the church there! Hope you are having a great day! :)

We attend the church on Duck St. by the campus. It's great!!

James, thanks for the welcome to your sharp-looking site. I'm glad your dad and Ray Hooper turned me toward it. My main interest in outreach and mission is two-pronged: my work with Missions Resource Network allows me to be connected and interested in helping foster disciple-making movements around the globe. Secondly, my wife and girls and I are trying to live an increasingly missional life among our neighbors in the community of North Richland Hills where we've lived for almost a year. We helped plant a church in Portland, Oregon's inner city before moving here to work with MRN. IN HIS GRIP--LANNY

James, thanks for welcoming me to this site. I look forward to being challenged and stretched. We are having fun discovering what 'missional' is in Paso Robles. I am currently reading 'The Shaping of Things to Come' and find myself writing all over the margins. I am involved in missional church planting throughout Northern California with our denomination - Converge Worldwide. Specifically, my wife and I planted Harvest 8 years ago as a multicultural, hands & feet ministry. I am bilingual and we conduct all our ministries in English & Spanish!! There seems to be a constant 'tension' in this direction of ministry!! I am married, with an adopted 12-year old son, a 17-month foster son who we are adopting with more foster kids on the way!! Grace & Peace to you! - Chris

Hello James, things are going well in Odessa. The weather is hot but so beautiful. Inspite of all the storms around us, God has kept us safely in his loving arms. I enjoy coming this site and reading all comments and getting ideas regarding mission work. Blessings