162 – Alan Hirsch, Author of ‘5Q: Reactivating the Original Intelligence and Capacity of the Body of Christ’

*Originally Posted at MissioAlliance.org

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This Week on Seminary Dropout…



Alan Hirsch is the founding director of Forge Mission Training Network, 100Movements, The 5Q Collective, and Future Travelers. All these are focussed on developing missional leadership and movemental organization. Known for his innovative approach to mission, Alan is considered to be a thought-leader and key mission strategist for churches across the Western world. Hirsch is the author of The Forgotten Ways; 5Q; The Shaping of Things to Come, ReJesus, and The Faith of Leap (with Michael Frost); Untamed (with Debra Hirsch); Right Here, Right Now (with Lance Ford), and On the Verge (with Dave Ferguson).

Alan is co-founder and adjunct faculty for the M.A. in Missional Church Movements at Wheaton College (Illinois). He is also adjunct professor at Fuller Seminary, George Fox Seminary, among others, and he lectures frequently throughout Australia, Europe, and the United States. He is series editor for Baker Books’ Shapevine series , IVP’s Forge line, and an associate editor of Leadership Journal.

His experience in leadership includes leading a local church movement among the marginalized as well as heading up the Mission and Revitalization work of his denomination. He has been on leadership team with Christian Associates, a mission agency planting churches throughout Europe. Alan is adjunct professor at Fuller Seminary and lectures frequently throughout Australia, Europe, and the U.S.

In the pages of this book, Alan Hirsch takes us on a really deep dive into the fivefold (APEST) typology of ministry as articulated in Ephesians 4:1-16, but he takes us to a depth and scope that few (if any) have ventured before. By laying out the most comprehensive model of APEST to date–one that incorporates deep theology as well as innovative practice–Hirsch once again demonstrates an almost uncanny capacity to change not only the nature and content of conversation itself, but also the scorecard on how we understand calling, church, leadership, and organization.


If you liked this episode then you might also like…

153: David Fitch Author of ‘Faithful Presence: Seven Disciplines that Shape the Church for Mission’

115: Natasha Sistrunk Robinson “When We Measure the Church by American Standards… …We Strangle the Beauty of the Cross.”


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OnRamp 003: Diversity

Hosted by Kerri Fisher & Shane Blackshear

Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

Disunity in Christ: Uncovering the Hidden Forces that Keep Us Apart by Christena Cleveland

Let Justice Roll Down by John Perkins


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139: Todd Adkins, Host of “5 Leadership Questions”

*Originally Posted at MissioAlliance.org

Todd Adkins Final

Todd Adkins is the Director of Leadership at Lifeway Christian Resources. He is passionate about the development of leaders, especially within the church. Todd served in student ministry and as an executive pastor for several years before joining the leadership at Lifeway to head up Ministry Grid, Lifeway’s dynamic new leadership development platform featuring over 3,700 videos and a fully customizable learning management system for churches.

The 5 Leadership Questions podcast is brought to you by LifeWay Leadership. Each episode co-hosts Todd Adkins and Barnabas Piper will ask five questions of different guests or about different leadership topics. The aim of the podcast is to inform and encourage Christian leaders whether they serve in the pastorate, the business world, non-profits, or on a volunteer basis.

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Their aim is to encourage leaders, share insights, and learn from other great leaders. They want to help leader grow in character, knowledge, and skills and do so in an enjoyable way. Some conversations are more serious while others are light-hearted. Their hope is that these conversations will build up leaders no matter their position.

Subscribe to Todd’s Podcast on itunes: 5 Leadership Questions


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If you liked this episode then you might also like…

Seminary Dropout 119: Brad Lomenick, Author of H3 Leadership

Seminary Dropout 115 Natasha Sistrunk Robinson When We Measure the Church By American Standards


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Seminary Dropout 100: Jo Saxton on Post-Christendom, Discipleship, and Being a Woman of Color in Church Leadership

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Jo Saxton is a director of 3DM , a movement/organization  helping church leaders make discipleship and mission the heartbeat of the local church. Jo was also  leader within The Order of Mission (TOM) , a global community of missional leaders. Jo also writes, her books include More Than Enchanting: Breaking Through Barriers to Influence Your World, and Real God, Real Life: Finding a Spirituality That Works.

Jo along with her husband Chris are a pastors at Mission Point Church in Minneapolis.

Some things discussed on the show…

growing up in foster care.

…coming to know God in a church that ministered in practical ways in the inner city.

…being the chair of the Board for 3DMovements.

…Jo’s role at Mission Point Church.

…Jo’s gift of preaching. 


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Two books I’ve been reading from GSET are Forgotten Gospel & Decoding Nicea.


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If you liked this episode then you might also like…

Seminary Dropout 95: Lisa Harper, Author of Believing Jesus

Seminary Dropout 37: Christena Cleveland, Disunity in Christ: Uncovering the Hidden Forces that Keep Us Apart


 

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Seminary Dropout 83: Rachel Held Evans

Rachel Held Evans

Rachel Held Evans is a tremendously successful blogger and author. Many believers have found a refuge in her writings. You can follow her on her blog at rachelheldevans.com and on twitter at @rachelheldevans.

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Rachel’s new book is Searching for Sunday. SfS is about Rachel’s own journey from a simple faith too one with more complexity and subtleties. Many believers, especially of the younger generations will see much of their own story in her’s. Leaving the church, starting a new one, facing failure, and finding a different form of church, Rachel brings us along for the ride.

Some things discussed on the show…

…when going through major doubt and Christians blame you for your doubt,  ‘they aren’t rejecting you for being different, they’re rejecting you for being familiar’.

…when your own theological house falls down sometimes you start throwing rocks at other people houses.

…Rachel’s propensity to talk about very serious and borderline depressing subjects at social functions.

…Rachel could sell more if you just ‘crapped’ on the church and didn’t make an effort to highlight the positive things that happen with churches.

…many boiled down Rachel’s journey as going from evangelicalism to the mainline and that’s really oversimplified and half-true.

…my families own journey without a church last year.


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If you liked this episode then you might also like…

Seminary Dropout 74: Erin Lane, Author of Lessons in Belonging from a Church-Going Commitment Phobe

Seminary Dropout 72: Scot McKnight, Author of Kingdom Conspiracy


 

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Seminary Dropout 36: Frank Viola, a More Biblical Church & Following Jesus

frankToday on the show my guest is author, speaker, and writer Frank Viola. Frank has written books about the church such as Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices, and Reimagining Church: Pursuing the Dream of Organic Christianity. He also writes about following Jesus in books such as Jesus: A Theography, and his latest Jesus Now: Unveiling the Present-Day Ministry of Christ. Frank has ruffled some feathers in his day by suggesting that maybe the church as we know it today doesn’t look very much like what the New Testament Church was. Whether you agree with him or not, Frank’s ideas and teachings demand a thoughtful examination and cannot be easily cast aside.

12294492-frank-viola-jesus-now-releases-may-1Jesus Now is Frank’s newest book. In it he examines what exactly Jesus has been doing in the lives of ordinary people like you and me since his time on earth.

Find Frank and all of his resources online at FrankViola.org

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Are You Taking Your Spiritual Discipline in Pill Form?

I made Kate cringe once because I told her that I would be happy taking all of my meals in pill form if I could get the proper nutrition and move on with my day. She knew that it was true. In fact, for breakfast every day I blend up a bunch of nutritious ingredients that have no business being mixed together. There’s no assortment of delicious flavors, but I can check breakfast off the list.

I wonder if we do the same thing with spiritual discipline.

Growing up I was offered a select few avenues for Christian growth. Those avenues in no particular order were:

1. Reading your Bible

2. Praying

3. Going to church/Worship (I realize these are not synonymous, but they were meant to be most of the time when they were brought up in the ‘spiritual growth’ context)

…and really that’s all I can think of. A generalization of the churches stance on avenues for spiritual growth? Yes, but not by much. My experience was that if any additional paths to connect with God were mentioned, they were in passing, brought up only because they were mentioned in the scripture being read at the moment.

I don’t know when the church turned it’s back on our creative devotion traditions. My guess is that it was response to eastern mysticism and postmodernism. Instead of differentiating Christian meditation that fills the mind with things of Christ and eastern mysticism that attempts to empty the mind, we simply wrote off meditation all together, thinking ‘we’ll just stop connecting with God that way.’

I remember reading Richard Foster’s book “The Celebration of Discipline” for the first time. My sheltered mind was blown by chapters on:

Fasting

Simplicity

Solitude

Submission

Service

Confession

Beyond these categories we’re invited to experience God in even more personal ways. I once heard that Foster himself was in the habit of getting up before the sun rises and staring at the flame of a candle. Apparently, Foster found that even within the discipline of meditation he needed to personalize it. He found something that, for him, aroused his love for God.

Tony Campolo has said that in the morning he says the name of Jesus over and over again and he finds that it orients him appropriately to begin his day.

Why are we surprised when a one size fits all approach to prayer, scripture reading and worship feels stale, neutered, and trite?

God invites us to use the creativity that he gave us, to connect with him in ways as personal and unique as our finger prints.

Are we taking spiritual discipline in pill form, all the while missing out on the delicious flavors and aromas we are meant to be enjoying?

What are some personalized or peculiar ways you’ve found to connect with God? Have you found the one sized fits all model to be lacking?

On a separate note. Thanks to all who have subscribed, left ratings, and listened to Seminary Dropout. It’s been a featured podcast on iTunes all week! Look for a new episode next Monday.

artwork by Akbar Sim on flickr