Vertical Church

photocred: dyerandjenkins' scrapbook
Mark and I have been spending some time in the evenings reading Vertical Church by James MacDonald together. It's actually been so much fun and really encouraging talking church together and dreaming about our personal ministry philosophy and about what the local church can look like and be.

It's a really cheap date night if you want to try it and I think our baby boy loves hearing Daddy read to him out loud. It's a great way for him to know Mark's voice even in the womb. We've jumped around a bit in the book due to our lack of time to read an entire book out loud but I've been jotting down some good quotes that I want to live by and I am excited to share them with you. So far I highly recommend the book if you are interested in church or church leadership. I hope to blog again with some more as we continue reading but since I have an entire page already, I thought I would start writing.

Feel free to agree or disagree with these quotes. They've caused good discussion and lots of "amens" from us as we seek and pray over our family continuing in full time ministry. I really want to know my philosophy and what I believe ministry is all about, so it's been a blessing to take time out of our evenings and talk about this. I know it will change drastically through the years, but I want to develop some sort of starting point and be able to articulate that.

I must say I am so proud of my husband and am so sure of the calling he has on his life to do ministry. We don't know when, for how long, if he will become a school teacher one day, but we do know that God's plans for our family is going to be amazing. We know that as long as we stay close to Him (abide in the vine John 15) we will be taken on an incredible journey. Ok enough rambling. Here are some quotes!

Moses said "is it not in your going with us that we are distinct among all the peoples of the earth?".... eventually everyone vacates church where God is not obviously present and working. Getting people back to church is pointless unless God comes back first." pg 21

"You can't fake God's glory. You can't manufacture it, or manipulate it or manifest it at will. Only God Himself can bring glory into a church and when He does, communities get shaken and lives get changed." pg 21

"Everything I am bursting to share with you about church requires 'buy in' on this foundational premise that every human being shares this appetite for eternity." pg 44

"Salvation consist in God's restoring us to what He intended us to be, not elevating us to what He is" - Millard Ericsson pg 45

"When did we decide that relevant need-meeting was superior to awesome God-meeting?" pg 47

"Church was designed to deliver what we were created to long for." pg 50

"Vertical is what God made us to long for and what the church is designed to facilitate." pg 51

"I have found that people are starving for a God sized vision from Gods word delivered by the power of Gods spirit for the exaltation of God's son. " pg 64

"I can't control how people perceive me, but here are some things I do try to keep the focus on God and not me: I preach the biblically verse by verse, exalting what God says versus my insights/thoughts. I am never the hero of my own illustrations- just the guy 'under construction.' After every service, elders/pastors/leaders come forward to minister to people." pg 104

"Not being known or famous or big-time in your denomination but instead that "he must increase, but I must decrease." How is that going by the way? Is Jesus more the focus in your church, and are you less than you were a year ago?" pg 105

Any good books you've been reading that I should be too? Always love recommendations! Have a wonderful weekend!


1 comment:

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