Desert Reflections

I have recently returned from a doctoral seminar week held in Carefree, AZ. I greatly enjoyed the week of learning with my cohort pastors concerning missional leadership. I am now two years into the five year program and have really begun to connect with my classmates and the program itself. Learning to be more "missional" as a Baptist is an interesting journey. I'm learning the deeper meanings of missional living, leadership and church. The two biggest questions that come from the missional movement is what is called the God questions: 1) What is God doing? and 2) What does God want to do? As Christians we talk a lot about seeking God's will for ourselves and our churches, but these two God questions re-frame how we understand God and the essence of the church. Missional thinking leads us to understand God as a missionary God that is working in the world (yesterday, today & always) to restore all creation into right relationship with God's self (see 2 Corinthians 5:17ff) and we (the church) are about being on God's mission in the world. God is the acting agent in the world & the church is helping carry it out via the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This is an interesting nuance considering our Western Christian views of missions. I think the missional conversation is the key to church health and survival into furture generations in the North American context. I'm looking for dialog partners for this journey-anyone interested?