Missional: I'm reading a book by Ed Stetzer and the little I have read I recommend strongly. The book is written for Church planters but I think it is applicable to anyone seeking to do effective ministry in a postmodern culture...our culture.

The new buzz word for the ultimate in church mission is being "Missional" basically meaning are believers and bodies of believers (churches) poised, prepared or even attempting to take the message of Jesus Christ to our culture. It seems by the declining numbers of churches and believers and the fact that we aren't even reaching our own children with the gospel that the answer to that is painfully clear...NO!

So being missional means that we are taking the message to our culture without making it relative but rather relevant. Quite a hard task but one that MUST be completed...I'll settle for strived for!

So Ed asks the question do we need to get back to being missional? Then he proposes that we have never been missional save the early church. Even though the reformation did great things, it spurred out of a movement that was reactionary rather than missional and proactive. It put protestants on the defensive while the catholics conquered new lands by colonializing them protestants huddled together. Really if you think about it the rise of protestantism only occured in a modern mindset when formula was key and the guarantee of 4 spiritual laws were present.

Our culture now knows that guarantee is gone so being missional is required, God was missional, Jesus was missional, he commands us to be missional.