The forgotten ways - pt. 1

I have finally started reading Alan Hirsch's 'The Forgotten Ways.' People have been telling me I need to read this book since it first came out. I have resisted partly because I don't like to be told what I should or should not do, and partly because it has such small print (I know, both are silly reasons. Whatever). At any rate, it is part of my assigned reading for the Missional Leadership Initiative, so I am finally getting to it. After reading through the intro and chapter 1, I can see that it is a book I will probably like. Alan seems to be one of those people I connect with and can relate to.

Some of the tidbits I garnered from the intro and chapter 1 are...

• The heading on p. 18: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single question"...
• p. 23 - "there needs to be a clear distinction between necessary organizational structure and institutionalism."
• p. 24 - "...six simple but interrelating elements of mDNA (missional DNA), forming a complex and living structure: Jesus is Lord, Disciple Making, Missional-Incarnational Impulse, Apostolic Environment, Organic Systems, and Communitas instead of Community.
• p. 27 - "A great deal more failure is the result of an excess of caution than of bold experimentation with new ideas. The frontiers of the kingdom of God were never advanced by men and women of caution." (J. Oswald Chambers)
• p. 27 - "...our stories are vital because they are perhaps the only thing we can say with absolute authority - precisely because they are OUR stories."
• p. 30 - "It seems that when the church engages at the fringes, it almost always brings life to the center."
• p. 36 - 95% of evangelical churches are tussling with each other to reach 12% of the population (interested in church that way). What about the rest of the population???
• p. 37 - "What is good news for this people group?" "What would the church look and feel like among this people group?"
• *** p. 41 - A true encounter with God in Jesus must result in:

WORSHIP - defined as offering our lives back to God through Jesus.
DISCIPLESHIP - defined as following Jesus and becoming increasingly like him (Christlikeness).
MISSION - defined as extending the mission (the redemptive purposes) of God through the activities of his people.

• p. 43 - "Much of what can be tagged 'consumerist middle-class' is built on the ideals of comfort and convenience (consumerism), and of safety and security (middle-class)."
• ***p. 47 - The TEMPT core practices and spiritual disciplines.