By Jim Henderson

Ephesians 4:11 tells us that some are called to be evangelists… to equip the saints for the work…. My experience in church taught me just the opposite. Evangelists DO the work. They’re typically way too busy to train anyone. It’s the rare evangelist who realizes that his/her real work is not preaching or being on a stage but rather to give their gift away to others.

If Jesus modeled anything it was “restraint”. Instead of doing everything better he invited others to do it poorly and in doing that ended up developing a movement where ordinary people got to play rather than watch.

I’m not an evangelist. I started Off The Map largely out of frustration with the fact that when it comes to helping others connect with Jesus (a.k.a evangelism) ordinary people don’t get to play. I decided to create a new category of evangelism called Doable Evangelism (which of course is an oxymoron).

A few years ago I was lucky enough to run into Randy Siever who unlike me is a gifted evangelist. Randy Siever can lead people to Christ just about whenever he sees fit. They fall into faith when they get too close to him. Most of us, hard as we try, are not like that. Read the rest of this entry »

Missio Dei – in the crisis of Christianity by Fred Peatross

Reviewed by Jim Henderson

I don’t read much about the missional church, because apart from Shaping of Things to Come by Frost and Hirsch I find much of the writing/thinking to be overly theological/philosophical. I prefer stories of real people. Another thing is this; most books are too long and too fascinated with them self. They lack awareness of the reader. This may be because many are written by teachers who major in information rather than by practitioners who focus on formation. Fred Peatross crosses this divide and gives us the best handbook on missional church on the market. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jim Henderson

Phil Wyman is one of the most courageous followers of Jesus I know.

Phil led his church to connect with a group whose address for Christians seems to be 667 (neighbor of the beast).

I’m talking Witches, Neo Pagans and Wiccans.

In fact Phil and his family moved from California to Salem Massachusetts so he could get closer to them.

Sounds suspiciously similar to God so loved the world kind of thinking to me – how about you?

Apparently he got a little too close for his denomination’s comfort –so they asked him to leave.

This story was so provocative that it made the front page of the Wall Street Journal. Earlier this year Phil and I made the cover of the Christian Science Monitor as well. Apparently he and I have something in common.

Phil needs a break (a.k.a. sabbatical). His friends of his are trying to raise some money to send him and his wife to France for a few weeks in August. We’re going to put in $100 and I’m asking many of you to match that or give what you can.

You can do this online right here and right now.  

P.S. Phil and his colleague John Smulo recently launched Missional Concepts Consulting and will be presenting at Off The Map Live later this year in Seattle.