THE “MIG” VISION & MOVEMENT
Missional Incarnational Gateways – MIG COMMUNITIES
We plant the seed. The seed is Jesus, not a building a program. We water, GOD Grows! We donʼt plant churches…we plant Jesus! Our focus is to make disciples who make disciples. Our investment is in people not buildings and programs.
What I believe about Church determines how I do church. “Donʼt be conformed to the patterns of the church you have experienced.” Romans 12
A NEW DEFINITION of CHURCH
The presence of Jesus among His people called out as a spiritual family to pursue His mission on this planet. Neil Cole describes Church as: “People who follow Jesus together” Church is NOT a religious event, a building, a structure or a destination. Church culture has become a model of “Come and See” more than “GO and BE” CPR-3 is in pursuit of Biblical Balance:
1. Church Growth – where we maximize traditional ecclesiology (COME AND SEE) A model where we started to “DO” Church better. God has used it. That model is not wrong, it is simply incomplete.
2. Missional Incarnational Gateways – A model where we learn how to live in biblical community, loving one another in authentic relationships. OUR RESPONSIBILITY: The alerting of the whole world that our God reigns and we do that by listening, serving and being with the people we are called to LOVE, both missionally and incarnationally. The church is not to be ʻanotherʼ silo in common culture. The church goes countercultural to the status quo of the ʻestablishedʼ church. The church (the presence of Jesus) is already ʻinʼ the culture. The church is a WHO not a WHAT! The Church is a VERB. It is a BEING, not a DOING or a PLACE I go to! DISCIPLING is learning and living the ways of Jesus so that others may learn and live His ways too, so that others learn and live His ways too, and so on. “As you are going” implies that disciple making is a process. Jesus described missions as serving anyone and everyone, everywhere, every day.
The STEPS of Discipling:
1. Relationship – multiplication does not happen apart from relationship
2. Discernment – discerning where someone is spiritually and determining where they need to go.
3. GREAT PRAYER: “Holy Spirit, please give me discernment into the heart and life of my new friend. Give me Your wisdom and insight so that I may know how to love them right where they are and encourage them for where You want them to go as we walk on this mutual journey with You.”
4. Release – A follower will be fishing or he or she is not a follower at all. Have we become busy ʻatʼ church or have we been released to ʻbeʼ the church and GO and make disciples.
MISSIONAL and INCARNATIONAL
Missional People + Multiplying Churches = Missional Movements
1. We have a STRATEGIC PROBLEM: We are ʻallʼ going after the same people. (the people we hope that will come to us) 60% will NEVER come to us. We must GO to them!
2. We have a MISSIONAL PROBLEM: How we communicate the “good news” 60% feel alienated from our current expressions of church. “It is impossible to teach a man what he thinks he already knows.ʼ
Imagine-Innovate – Move
Imagine: the leader determines the vision which becomes reality. He then frees the people to imagine the Himpossible.
Shift: the process or programs often shift because culture shifts. We need to listen better, open our eyes wider. Move outside of our box.
Innovate: you actually begin to DO IT!
Spiritual HEALTH and FAMILY are the Goals of ʻthe MIG Churchʼ Community
1. Decentralized – No one person is the gateway keeper. Each group and each person are the gateways that God has chosen to use for people to come into relationship with Jesus.
2. Open ended outcomes – (creativity and innovation) – Let the Spirit of God MOVE
3. Goals: Personal ownership and responsibility to their relationship with Jesus the head of the Church and other believers, the body of Christ.
4. Processes are both descriptive and prescriptive – it is bottom line based. Tell them the bottom line. Let them know what the destination is. Let them figure out HOW to get there. Donʼt answer ʻallʼ their questions, learn to ask questions that help them figure it out.
5. Simplicity in a well thought out Core DNA CPR-3 and ʻthe MIG Churchʼ: Mission and Values (DNA and CPR-3 Fractal)
1. To initiate gateway opportunities for individuals and churches to become healthy disciples of Jesus Christ.
2. To live in Biblical community with other believers every day. (Acts 2)
3. Every believer is a commissioned disciple (Matthew 28:19,20)
4. To understand and practice the missional and incarnational value of the church
5. To step into the mysterious journey of pursuing Jesus by embracing courage, danger, adventure, mission and calculated risk. Personal Goal of Each Disciple: Private purity and public charity. James 1:27.
THE MIG CHURCH played out:
1. The Church “CHURCH 168” (168 Hours Each Week)
a. MIG Communities Through the Week
b. Gatherings of the Church for Weekend Celebration
2. The Training Centers – Equipping the Church to BE THE CHURCH
a. Training and equipping in essential disciple making movements
b. Training life skills in conjunction with fair trade, micro financing with sustainable outcomes
3. A Leadership Farm System (Disciple Making) The MIG Community was designed with you in mind! These small, casual groups offer the best way for you to get connected no matter your age or season of life. MIG Communities focus on bringing the Bible and everyday issues together all the while building meaningful relationships. VISION is a remarkable thing! It’s a ‘thing’ because it is often hard to describe and it changes from time to time. Vision is a picture that when fully developed produces passion in you and in those around you. VISION is the key to success! It is what people give their lives for. The Bible says, ‘without vision, people perish.’ The good news about vision is, if you don’t have it, you can get it! The bad news about vision is, if you have it or had it, you can lose it! VISION needs to be current and constantly before us. A question that has been all over my mind: What breaks your heart, keeps you awake at night, wrecks you? Answer that and you just might have a VISION. VISION determines health and really depends on the ‘buy in’ of its partners. There are essentially 3 levels of ‘buy in.’ If our make up is heavy on level 1 we are less healthy than if our make up was heavier on the side of a level 3. Level 1′s believe in the vision enough to be a member and benefit from it. They are consumers. They want to be fed and served. Level 2′s believe in the vision enough to contribute comfortably. Don’t mess with their priorities, but if it is convenient they are happy to come alongside of and help. Level 3′s believe in the vision enough to give their lives to it. They are “all in.” They generally make up 20% of the church and do 80% of the work and give 80% of the money. What level are you? Will you “take ‘it’ to the ‘next’ level?
I BELIEVE
…my heart has a sense of urgency for God’s church.
…OUR greatest opportunity is NOW.
…the greatest compliment that God could give us is to trust us with Jesus’ mission….our time is short.
…we live in the greatest time in history to make a difference for Jesus.
…we have a lot of unfinished work to do.
…I will give account to Jesus for wasting time and opportunities.
…the greater the opportunities, the greater the distractions.
…many times I’m distracted with my own junk.
…I need Heaven’s razor sharp discernment to avoid anything that tries to derail the vision that God has called me to. “I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.” 1 Corinthians 9:19