I have had a number of cross-cultural assignments in over the last 25 years. The "what" was clear. Less clear was the "how". Each urban context is different. There are no guaranteed formulae to success. However, we are seeing patterns across different cities.

Practical Urban Mission - Part 1

God is at work, people are dissatisfied with the brokenness they see and experience, but the vast majority of residents in our cities are not responding to Jesus' Good News. There is a disconnect here. How can we, as urban harvest workers, be more effective at connecting the dots?

Overcoming Challenges in Evangelism - Part 2 of 2

Evangelism is often framed as if God gave us the Great Commission from a distance and sent us off to make it happen on our own. But IS God actually distant and uninvolved apart from giving us the command?

Overcoming Challenges in Evangelism - Part 1 of 2

Recently I wrote about some common challenges faced by both Christians and un-churched people relating to evangelism. My personal wrestle with these challenges & Scripture led to two powerful paradigm shifts that resolved the tension and opened up exciting new possibilities. Today we look at the first of these Scripturally-based paradigm shifts.

It can be tough carrying a burden for discipleship movement in cities! There can be great encouragement from learning with and from the experiences of peers. That's why peer learning is an important part of the work we are doing in cities.

We recognise that the vast majority have said "No" to our evangelistic approaches and they are not changing their minds. This creates challenges both for followers of Jesus and for seekers.

We previously looked at how population growth and technology have increased the complexity of our cities.
These changes have important implications for urban ministry. These implications confront us with pressing questions that must be addressed if we want to see God’s vision for our cities fulfilled. We will look at three of them here.

God's Kingdom is fundamentally relational and cities have changed the way people relate. The better we understand this, the better we are empowered to sow Kingdom seed that invites people into a renewed relationship with our Father-King.

The growing urbanism of our world is well documented. Growing numbers of disciple-making movements (DMMs) are also well documented. What's missing is well-documented DMMs in urban contexts. Anecdotally, there are few urban instances of DMM, and those that exist are taking place primarily within sub-groups who have preserved a rural social structure. Sustained replicating discipleship is still rare amongst majority populations in our cities.

God's Gospel invitation is often framed primarily as an invitation to have sins forgiven, receive eternal life, and/or enjoy a more prosperous life. Each of these invitations distracts and confuses those we are inviting. These things might be by-products or consequences of God’s invitation, but they’re not the main thing. God’s central invitation is for us to step back into a surrendered and trusting relationship with Himself - the loving Father King.

God’s end-vision for Creation is a Biblically explicit, universal constant. He is restoring His Kingdom and bringing all things back into harmony and unity under His loving reign and rule. At the human level, He is inviting us to participate in His Kingdom as beloved Sons and Daughters who join with Him to help others do the same. In essence, this is discipleship that replicates.

The pressures of life and the demands of those around us are loud and persistent. So much of what we pour ourselves into is temporary. Only the things of God will endure. It’s important we periodically check the details of His invitation and make sure we are in sync with Him. God is offering a profound invitation to us.