Off-Road Disciplines E-Book

Earl Creps

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: J-B Leadership Network Series
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 339

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Beschreibung

In Off-Road Disciplines, Earl Creps reveals that the on-road practices of prayer and Bible reading should be bolstered by the other kinds of encounters with God that occur unexpectedly--complete with the bumps and bruises that happen when you go "off-road." Becoming an off-road leader requires the cultivation of certain spiritual disciplines that allow the presence of the Holy Spirit to arrange your interior life. Earl Creps explores twelve central spiritual disciplines--six personal and six organizational--that Christian leaders of all ages and denominations need if they are to change themselves and their churches to reach out to the culture around them.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Leadership Network Titles

About Leadership Network

Foreword

Introduction

Off-Road Disciplines

Deconstructing Myself

Dedication

Part One - Personal Disciplines

Chapter One - Death

Nuclear War and Other Problems: The Cultural Paradigm

Crucified Culture

Fools and Dead Smelt: The Leadership Paradigm

Crucified Leadership

Third Way: The Spirituality Paradigm

Crucified Spirituality

My Best Practice Is Me

Chapter Two - Truth

[phone]

Wanda and the First Church of Atlantis

A Post-Christian Generation

Culture Shock

Sacred Realism

Chapter Three - Perspective

Aren’t You the Postmodernism Guy?

Aren’t You the Culture Guy?

Where Are You a Missionary to?

Tiempos Mixtos

Chapter Four - Learning

www.IDontGetIt.com

Planned Dis-Obsolescence

Teach Your Parents Well

Chapter Five - Witness

Mental Models of the Sought

“You Seem So Busy”

N2

Sacred Coffee

Chapter Six - Humility

“I Am Not the Christ”: Negative Humility

“Sent Ahead of Him”: Positive Humility

Imperfect Humility and How I Attained It

Part Two - Organizational Disciplines

Chapter Seven - Assessment

What Gets Done Gets Measured

WWJM (What Would Jesus Measure)?

Missional Efficiency

Truth Telling

Chapter Eight - Harmony

Two Impulses, One Church

Three Brands, One Church

One Lord, One Mission, One Church

How Harmony Happens

Chapter Nine - Reflection

Theology and the Rest of Us

Theological Reflection

A Theology Worth Smuggling

Chapter Ten - Opportunity

Uncivil Wars

Spatial Evangelism

Common Wall Holiness

Chapter Eleven - Sacrifice

Jews and Greeks

Jewish Greeks

I Choose the Mission

Chapter Twelve - Legacy

God’s Retirement Plan

No One Else Is Coming

Epilogue:

Notes

Acknowledgments

The Author

Index

Copyright © 2006 by Earl Creps. All rights reserved.

Published by Jossey-Bass A Wiley Imprint 989 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-1741 www.josseybass.com

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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Excerpt from “Evangelizing Folk Religionists,” by Gailyn Van Rheenen. March 12, 2002, e-mail newsletter ([email protected]). Copyright 2003 by Gailyn Van Rheenen. Reprinted with permission from Gailyn Van Rheenen.

Excerpt from “An Interview with U2’s Bono,” by Peter Mansbridge. June 28, 2002, http://www.atu2.com/news/article.src?ID=2364. Copyright CBC, 2002. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission from the CBC.

Excerpt from “A Theology to Die For,” by Timothy George. February 9, 1998, http://www.ctlibrary.com/ct/1998/february9/8t2049.html. Reprinted with permission from Timothy George.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Creps, Earl G.

Off-road disciplines: spiritual adventures of missional leaders / Earl Creps; foreword by Dan Kimball. p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN-13: 978-0-7879-8520-2 (cloth)

1. Christian leadership. 2. Leadership, Religious aspects—Christianity. I. Title.

BV652.1.C735 2006

253—dc22

2006020384

Leadership Network Titles

The Blogging Church: Sharing the Story of Your Church Through Blogs, by Brian Bailey with Terry Storch

Leading from the Second Chair: Serving Your Church, Fulfilling Your Role, and Realizing Your Dreams, by Mike Bonem and Roger Patterson

The Way of Jesus: A Journey of Freedom for Pilgrims and Wanderers, by Jonathan S. Campbell with Jennifer Campbell

Leading the Team-Based Church: How Pastors and Church Staffs Can Grow Together into a Powerful Fellowship of Leaders, by George Cladis

Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens, by Neil Cole

Off-Road Disciplines: Spiritual Adventures of Missional Leaders, by Earl Creps

Leading Congregational Change Workbook, by James H. Furr, Mike Bonem, and Jim Herrington

Leading Congregational Change: A Practical Guide for the Transformational Journey, by Jim Herrington, Mike Bonem, and James H. Furr

The Leader’s Journey: Accepting the Call to Personal and Congregational Transformation, by Jim Herrington, Robert Creech, and Trisha Taylor

Culture Shift: Transforming Your Church from the Inside Out, by Robert Lewis and Wayne Cordeiro, with Warren Bird

A New Kind of Christian: A Tale of Two Friends on a Spiritual Journey, by Brian D. McLaren

The Story We Find Ourselves In: Further Adventures of a New Kind of Christian, by Brian D. McLaren

Practicing Greatness: 7 Disciplines of Extraordinary Spiritual Leaders, by Reggie McNeal

The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church, by Reggie McNeal

A Work of Heart: Understanding How God Shapes Spiritual Leaders, by Reggie McNeal

The Millennium Matrix: Reclaiming the Past, Reframing the Future of the Church, by M. Rex Miller

Shaped by God’s Heart: The Passion and Practices of Missional Churches, by Milfred Minatrea

The Ascent of a Leader: How Ordinary Relationships Develop Extraordinary Character and Influence, by Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol, and Ken McElrath

The Missional Leader: Equipping Your Church to Reach a Changing World, by Alan J. Roxburgh and Fred Romanuk

The Elephant in the Boardroom: Speaking the Unspoken About Pastoral Transitions, by Carolyn Weese and J. Russell Crabtree

About Leadership Network

Since 1984, Leadership Network has fostered church innovation and growth by diligently pursuing its far-reaching mission statement: to identify, connect, and help high-capacity Christian leaders multiply their impact.

Although Leadership Network’s techniques adapt and change as the church faces new opportunities and challenges, the organization’s work follows a consistent and proven pattern: Leadership Network brings together entrepreneurial leaders who are focused on similar ministry initiatives. The ensuing collaboration—often across denominational lines—creates a strong base from which individual leaders can better analyze and refine their own strategies. Peer-to-peer interaction, dialogue, and sharing inevitably accelerate participants’ innovation and ideas. Leadership Network further enhances this process through developing and distributing highly targeted ministry tools and resources, including audio and video programs, special reports, e-publications, and online downloads.

With Leadership Network’s assistance, today’s Christian leaders are energized, equipped, inspired, and better able to multiply their own dynamic Kingdom-building initiatives.

Launched in 1996 in conjunction with Jossey-Bass (a Wiley imprint), Leadership Network publications present thoroughly researched and innovative concepts from leading thinkers, practitioners, and pioneering churches. The series collectively draws from a range of disciplines, with individual titles offering perspective on one or more of five primary areas:

1. Enabling effective leadership

2. Encouraging life-changing service

3. Building authentic community

4. Creating Kingdom-centered impact

5. Engaging cultural and demographic realities

For additional information on the mission or activities of Leadership Network, please contact:

Leadership Network www.leadnet.org(800) 765-5323 [email protected]

Foreword

For as long as the current “Emerging Church” discussion has been going on, the name Earl Creps keeps coming up. Earl is very much a scholar, and he has his Ph.D. and is a professor at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary (AGTS). But in addition to his academic credentials and experience in that world, Earl is no stranger to the reality of being a leader in the local church. He has served as a pastor three times and knows well the daily struggles and ups and downs of the real world beyond seminary. So with Earl you get an alloy of academic skills and knowledge with a background in actual pastoral ministry—a rare combination.

It doesn’t end there. Earl has been listening, dialoguing, traveling, visiting, and studying churches and leadership the whole time. I have often gone to his Website (http://www.earlcreps.com/) and blog (http://www.xanga.com/Coffeedrinkinfool) to glean from his vast exposure to what the Spirit of God is doing within the Church in our emerging culture. He has incredibly broad experience as a scout who sees patterns in churches and leadership. As a well-traveled explorer of the Church over many years, Earl offers more than description of the latest cool topics in leadership; we see instead what the Spirit of God is doing that is lasting and bearing fruit, that transcends any methodology or trend in church leadership. This broader and more creative view is what we all need to seek.

In your hands you have a book that has been simmering and brewing over all these years of Earl’s scouting and learning. You hold something that is rich, cured, and aged to sink into your mind and heart in a way that couldn’t happen without breadth of experience behind it. This isn’t a book about a quick fix to break an attendance barrier, or bringing in new music or a new design for a worship gathering. It isn’t about how to give better sermons. Earl writes about the most important thing he has discovered in all his exploring of the Church: the life of the missional leader and its effect on a missional organization.

Leadership is critical. I believe what we need in the Church today is not just leaders but missional leaders. Not every church rises to Jesus’ charge to reach out to the world. Not all church leaders respond to such a mission. Many of them fall into the trap of striving only for bigger and better programs or music, or whatever, for the already saved. Being a missional leader is entirely different. We need to prepare for the mission by developing patterns and disciplines in our lives and ministry that the Spirit of God can use to sustain us while we serve Jesus on His mission. This book is a readable and understandable exploration of the patterns of discipline that missional leaders need in their lives. More than theory or nice thoughts, this book is written from being in the depths of missional leadership and from observing and watching what the Spirit of God is doing in churches and leaders in many places, over many years.

I am excited about the impact this book will definitely have in changing leaders’ lives. It is also written for the people Jesus loves and cares about who will follow and be changed by leaders practicing the disciplines Earl speaks of. My prayer for this book is that God may use it missionally—and as I type these words I pray for those who may never even read it themselves but instead be influenced by the lives of those who do.

Dan Kimball, author, The Emerging Churchwww.vintagefaith.com

Introduction

Kevin left his job as an environmental consultant to become an entrepreneur. Sensing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at hand, he set up the coffee shop he had always wanted to own and operate with his family, in a suburb on the south end of our city. A few months into his venture and wanting his business somehow to help people connect with God, Kevin contacted local churches about the possibility of partnering with them to touch the city. Because we had worked together in a local church, Kevin knew of my interest in this subject and e-mailed me about the response of the congregational leaders.

Of course, there are the obvious differences in superficial stuff: style, denominational background, and so on. But I found the difference in definition of and approach to their mission even more interesting. I recall some who are passionate about making ways for the culture to come to Christ, while others were, let’s say, less passionate; still others just didn’t see much benefit in talking about it with me. Some of these meetings have been electric, while others have seemed pretty empty. Some meetings have been entirely about how we could work together, while regarding others people either didn’t respond or were coldly polite. The responses did not follow variables of style or labels.