How Christians Should Do Conferences

Posted on November 9, 2009 by Pomo

This is more of anecdotal piece rather than one listing off references and stats. But I'd like to point out how Christians can start leading the charge for cheaper and eco-friendly conferences. We all know that the churches who can afford it, love to send their pastors and as many non-essential workers as possible to gaudy conferences around North America. Well maybe not quite, but there are a number of churches who are conference junkies and may indulge in the activity more often than really necessary (do we have to go to Leadership Summit every year to ask the same questions?)

Nonetheless, let me encourage churches and denominational leaders to connect and involve themselves in online networking in lieu of expensive flights, meals, lodging, etc., of conferences abroad. Continue reading →

Renov8 Congress Comes to Calgary

Posted on November 7, 2009 by Ro

The Renov8 Church Planting Congress is coming to Calgary in a week and a half and we're gearing up for the arrival of some of the countries brightest missional / church planting thinkers and leaders.

I don't know what other churches in Calgary are doing, but Calgary Church would like to engage some of the folks who are from out of town, and close to home, who are interested in extending the missional church dialogue into the evening.

It appears the congress has left evenings free, so if you're schedule is not booked up, we're going to reserve some space in downtown Calgary to continue our discussion. Mind as well make the most of your time here. This is open to anybody and everybody who wants to dialogue, share stories, muse, etc., with like minded missional thinkers.

Location has not yet been determined but will likely be in the Kensington area of town. Would anybody be interested?

Fresh +Refresh Canadian Missional Perspectives Book

Posted on October 19, 2009 by Ro

Current Denominations Fail at Connecting with Missional Churches?

A New Book from Allelon Publishing, edited by Len Hjalmarson & Brent Toderash, is survey of some of the latest and emerging churches across Canada. The book has been delayed and delayed but I finally snuck a copy out of the hands of one of the contributors.

I'm always a sucker for new Canadian made church surveys, they're rare but invaluable for Canadian context ministry.

Half of the book was devoted to contributors taking a 'fresh' approach to the gospel message and church. The other half were re-freshing their current approach to church. I didn't find the latter to be very interesting, but I do see it's value. Continue reading →

Many Questions on ‘A Prayer to Our Father’ – Book Review

Posted on October 15, 2009 by Ro

Part of my commitment with theOoze is to review the books I sign up for and they send me! They are nice enough to give the option but I choose to generally review the ones I request. Kind of like an all you can eat buffet.... Anyways, I was going to skip the review for this book but it was short enough that when I found time I cracked it open and took a read.

A Prayer to Our Father. Hebrew Origins of the Lord’s Prayer by Nehemia Gordon and Keith Johnson is a 171 page large print narrative adventure about an African American pastor and Jewish academic combining to investigate the Hebrew origins of the Lord's Prayer.

What I enjoyed about this book was the concept of investigating the 'original' text of Matthew which is purported to be a Hebrew text, not Greek. The con of the book is the fact only 1/2 of the pages were devoted to the investigation of the actual prayer component. The other issue I have is the lack of corroborating evidence for the conclusions they make. It is dangerous to make claims implicitly or explicitly and passing them on to t he masses as fact (or not framing them as mere ideas so that people won't treat them by default as 'fact' because they show up in a printed book). Continue reading →

Great Missional Dialogue Videos

Posted on October 8, 2009 by Ro

I have to get on the bandwagon and post these resources for missional church prowlers online. It's a great dialogue to watch and muse upon. Without further ado:

Ed Stetzer & David Fitch - a missional conversation from Missional Tribe .

Ed Stetzer & Dave Fitch - a missional conversation Part II from Bill Kinnon .

Brain McLaren on the Message of Jesus

Posted on September 20, 2009 by Ro

From the Secret Message of Jesus, here is a quick excerpt on the topic of God's Kingdom and Christ's message. I'm using this book as part of a series on discipleship. Some evangelicals might throw me under the bus for that, but I'll repent on my death bed so it's all good.....

....Jesus says again and again, this kingdom advances with neither violence nor bloodshed, with neither hatred nor revenge.

Tell that to all the 'Christians' in America who picket against homosexuals or abortion with signs like, "God hates fags". Actually, God hates intolerant white people with racists signage. God also does not stamps his name next to America because they solve their problems in a very pagan way....

Continue reading →

TheNines a bit of a yawn

Posted on September 10, 2009 by Pomo

Yesterday TheNines broad casted online all day. 09/09/09 has not real significance, but the leadership network had some plans to bring in a few big names for 9 minute musings. I'd like to say I LOVE the idea. It makes COMPLETE sense to have 'conferences' ONLINE rather than getting pastors and churches to blow hundreds to thousands of dollars on conferences and related expenses. For that I give Leadership Network a thumbs up.

However, content wise, I was unimpressed, maybe because my expectations were way too high and because I'm from Canada and the conference was geared to Americans. Continue reading →

Tangible Kingdom – Hugh Halter

Posted on September 6, 2009 by Ro

Dave Fitch's book is still the best on missional church, but for 'introduction to....' The Tangible Kingdom by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay is the best out there. I'm halfway through and although i haven't encountered much in the way of new thinking, I love some of the quotes, I have included one here:

"Church is the place you go to, and attendees don't have to do much in the way of mission because the pros do it for t hem. We show up at church to get what we want ((which is feeding from a leader), not what we need (to feed ourselves and others). If we don't get what we want, we head to the place next door because that chaplain is better at giving us what we want." pg 56

If this is an accurate description of your church may I suggest you reach and grasp something more? You were meant for it.

The Seven Faith Tribes – George Barna – Review

Posted on August 10, 2009 by Ro

I'm always a fan when new statistics arrive in the mail, email, newsletter, etc., regarding the latest sociological trends in Canada. Maybe it's because I'm an economist by designation, maybe because I like to learn about my culture as a church planter. Nonetheless, from this perspective I found the latest Barna book very useful, albeit, I would have appreciated it more if I were an American. (Download part of the book here,

However, I'm not quite sure this is a necessary book to purchase, maybe a good one to pick up from the library. I for one enjoy Barna and his newsletter that arrive via email. Part of me wondered whether the first half of the book that outlined the seven major faith tribes according to Barna would have been better off in the concise newsletter format rather than in book form. Continue reading →

Why Church is Like Tim Horton’s Only Less Profitable

Posted on August 7, 2009 by pomo-rd

I walked into Tim Horton's this afternoon following a long morning meeting. Got in line, picked out my chicken salad sandwich combo, medium steeped tea, and a honey glazed muffin. I then picked my seat at an empty table, even though there were many other tables with just one person. For a moment, I pondered approaching a middle-aged gentleman sporting a walking stick and an iPhone, wondering if I could join him. I didn't. I could have been lazy, self-righteous, biased, or selfish. Maybe its a combination of all of those things. Maybe it's none of them. Continue reading →

PomoTheo – Missional Perspectives

Join the missional conversation from Canada.