This semester I have been helping with a class at my church called Perspectives on the World Christian movement, a missions-focused class that I attended back in 2010. Each week we have a different speaker that helps us to understand the Biblical, historical, cultural, and strategic basis for missions and our place in God’s work around the world. Last night our speaker was Dr. Milfred Minatrea, who wrote the book Shaped By God’s Heart: The Passion and Practices of Missional Churches. I heard Dr. Minatrea speak when I took the class, and I also read his book for one of my courses at DBU. It was exciting to hear him again and get some very important reminders.
He began with his definition of a missional church, and I have been chewing on this since last night. Here’s his definition:
Missional church: a reproducing community of authentic disciples, being equipped as missionaries sent by God, to live and proclaim His Kingdom in their world.
Wow, I could pull apart each word in that definition and find great meaning for what God wants for us as His church. But I think I want you to mull over that definition for a bit and I’ll come back later to unpack it and some other ideas related to being on mission with God. (So if you don’t read my blog very often, which is understandable since I am not the best at posting frequently, make sure you read this post first). 🙂
A Heart Like His 