By Steve Pike, National Director, AG Church Multiplication Network

I mean it… stop what you’re doing and buy the latest book by Reggie McNeal. It’s called “Missional Renaissance.” The subtitle is “Changing the Scorecard for the CHURCH.”

Reggie removes the mystery and ambiguity from the word “missional.” The book is loaded with biblically sound insights on how the American church can get back on mission with Jesus.

Pastors of existing churches will find it challenging, but hope filled. Leaders getting ready to plant will save themselves years of wasted effort by simply applying the biblical insights that Reggie ties to practical examples of what missional churches look like.

My favorite segment of the book were his suggestions for how a church can measure it’s Kingdom effectiveness with more meaningful metrics than noses and nickels. And I loved his challenge to view and do evangelism as a process of blessing people. Read it. You’ll see. 

Oh yeah… fair warning…. after you read the book, you might stop doing some things you’re doing now. But you’ll start doing some more effective things! So read and grow. 

By Steve Pike, National Director, Church Multiplication Network

I just finished reading the book Righteous by Lauren Sandler. It’s a fascinating account of her experiences with what she calls the “Disciple Generation”- young people totally committed to Jesus. Her perspective as a “secular Jew” makes the book all the more compelling for any leader serious about building relational bridges to people confused about matters of faith and truth.

The book is a patchwork narrative of her eyewitness exposure to events like “Acquire the Fire” and “Cornerstone,” leaders like Jay Bakker and Ted Haggard and institutions like Patrick Henry College and the Discovery Institute. She sees all of these entities and leaders as part of an emerging threat to American freedom.

Throughout the book she agonizes over the common thread of “Fundamentalism” that runs through all these movements and basically compares them to radical Islam. She awes over the ability of these groups to call young people to a level of commitment that puts their secular counterparts to shame. And she wonders aloud if it might be time for the non-religious young people of this nation to use some of the same recruiting tactics that have been so successful for religious recruiters.

For me, the book was one part pain and two parts inspiration. She confirms that efforts we make to incarnate the Gospel message faithfully into the culture are actually quite compelling. Her observations lend credence to my conviction and observation that new churches emerging out of the soil of redemptive relationship and authentic demonstration of the nearness of God will experience an extraordinary level of transformational effectiveness. The authentic presence and power of God exhibited through surrendered followers of Jesus breaks through the shell of even the most resistant soul. Let’s be that!

Mark Batterson is a good friend of mine. I actually was his youth pastor years ago. Today he is the pastor of National Community Church, a thriving community of believers in the heart of Washington, D.C. Mark is an outstanding member of the “fraternity of church planters” (he’s planted a church that was stillborn and one that has excelled and multiplied) as well as a author of really good books. His latest book is called “Wild Goose Chase” and it’s a book that every church planter should read. I got to spend a few minutes with him today and you can hear our conversation on this podcast.

You can also learn more about the book, the church and the author by following these links: http://ChaseTheGoose.com and http://MarkBatterson.com