This semester I have been writing about how prayer and mission go hand in hand.  You can’t have one without the other.  There might be no better passage to prove this than the story told in Acts 10 when God...

Have you ever found yourself somewhere and wondered how you got there? That’s exactly how I am feeling today as we are kicking off our forty days of prayer for Southern Methodist University here in Dallas.  It’s been a five-year...

Being involved with college students means creating community every semester or at least every fall. Often, we have to learn to create community from scratch. Here are seven principles for Catalyzing Community whether you are trying to start a small...

Christians have become enamored with organized religion.  We are thrilled to be a part of official bible studies, official church groups, and official volunteer organizations.  However, we forget the true significance behind the missional community.  While organizations are pertinent to...

John was playing squash with an unbelieving colleague who had recently joined the company.  They had had a couple of brief chats over coffee in the cafeteria.  Simon was new to the area and so welcomed the chance to do...

“The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.”   Acts 11:21 These words were used by Luke to describe the church at Antioch. Their story starts like this: Now those who had...

On February 7th, a group of students plus a group of my adult friends gathered to watch the “Compelled by Love” documentary about Rolland and Heidi Baker’s life and work in Mozambique. There were many amazing things in the movie...

This year I have been writing about the character traits and skills of effective missional community leaders. I wrote about missional leaders being proactive, hospitable, generous, available, attentive, persevering, and holy. This post will look at how missional leaders are kind. kind: of a good or benevolent nature and disposition, as a person...

At The Austin Stone we are deeply convicted about the role of missional communities for effectively carrying out the life and mission of our church in the city of Austin. This conviction is especially true when it comes to the...

When Jewish psychiatrist Viktor Frankl was arrested by the Nazis in World War II and put in Auschwitz, the infamous death camp, he was stripped of everything: property, family, possessions, and a manuscript he had spent years researching and writing...