"[The local church is] a community of regenerated believers who confess Jesus Christ as Lord. In obedience to Scripture they organize under qualified leadership, gather regularly for preaching and worship, observe the biblical sacraments of baptism and communion, and are unified by the spirit, are disciplined for holiness, and scattered to fulfill the Great Commandment and the Great Commission as missionaries to the world for God's glory and their joy." -- Pastor Mark Driscoll, in his book Vintage Church

"We regard our involvement in....mission as an adventure, are prepared to take risks, and are anticipating surprises as the Spirit guides us into fuller understanding. This is not opting for agnosticism, but for humility. It is, however, a bold humility -or a humble boldness.

We know only in part, but we do know. And we believe that the faith we profess is both true and just, and should be proclaimed.

We do this, however, not as judges or lawyers, but as witnesses; not as soldiers, but as envoys of peace; not as high-pressure salespersons, but as ambassadors of the Servant Lord."  -- David Bosch in Transforming Mission

1. It would be filled with millions of unsaved and accessible youth and young adults.
2. It would be a place where people openly, regularly, and publicly share their opinions, thoughts, feelings, concerns, fears, and needs without anyone asking them to.
3. It would be a place where people connect with other people in community, and people like and expect to meet new people.
4. It would be a place where many people provide a picture and a little information about themselves so you can know a little about them before you communicate with them.
5. It would be a place where it is okay to be creative, different, and to just be you.
6. It would be a place where people openly debate, discuss, and exchange ideas including spiritual matters.
7. It would be a place where people like to go and hang out. It would be fun, sometimes silly, and people would smile and laugh.
8. It would be a place that is very close to our home so we could get there quickly when we have some time, and getting there would not require immunizations, or passports, or plane trips. And it would all be free.

-- Mark Stephenson, CyberMinistry and Technology Director, Ginghamsburg Church

"Jesus didn't come to make us Christian - He came to make us truly human."
-- Hans Rookmaker

"Never before has the Church looked so much like the great multitude whom no man can number out of every nation [panta ta ethne] and tribe and people and tongue. Never before, therefore, has there been so much potentiality for mutual enrichment and self-criticism, as God causes yet more light and truth to break forth from his word."
--Andrew F. Walls

“The question we face is not whether Church Planting Movements are right or wrong, but whether we will be participants or observers – allowing God’s movement to pass us by. God’s handiwork in these movements is as irrefutable as the movements are inevitable; it is we who are the question mark.”
-- David Garrison, author of the book, Church Planting Movements

May we do great things as if they are small because of Jesus Christ, and do small things as if they are great because of Jesus Christ.
-- Blaise Pascal

Forms Cultural, Meaning Cultural ====> Animistic
Forms Christ, Meaning Cultural ====> Syncretistic
Forms Cultural, Meaning Christ ====> Appropriate Church
-- Dr. Belay G. Olam

"Now, with God's help, I shall become myself."
-- Soren Kierkegaard

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming -- WOW -- What a Ride!"
-- Anonymous

"Everywhere St. Paul went there was a revolution. Everywhere I go, they serve tea."
-- An unknown English bishop

"The kind of work God usually calls you to is the kind of work that you need most to do and that the world most needs to have done...The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."
-- Frederick Buechner's definition of "vocation" in his little book "Wishful Thinking"

"A talent's a gift from God. A talent enables us to work hard at a task and not only enjoy it but find it uniquely fulfilling."
--The gruff old priest Lewis Hall in Susan Howatch's recent book, The Heartbreaker

"O Christ, do not give me tasks equal to my powers,
but give me powers equal to my tasks,
for I want to be stretched by things too great for me.
I want to grow through the greatness of my tasks,
But I shall need your help for the growing."
-- E. Stanley Jones

"If I could speak all of the world's languages and were a perfect communicator, but were unable to love people, I would simply be making noise, not reaching anyone. If you love people, you have patience with them and treat them fairly. You do not permanently point out your own good points, or talk down to others. You speak with people, not to them. If you love people, you can understand their feelings. You do not always seek your own good. You can control your ego, and do not take your frustration out on others. If you love people, you do not hold a grudge, or repeatedly point out their old mistakes. You are not secretly happy when others fall, but rejoice when they are successful. If you love people, you will not give up. You trust them, believe in them, and give them hope and encouragement."
-- Dr. Siegfried Buchholz, previously General Director of BASF Austria, management coach

"Only when we do the Jesus truth in the Jesus way do we get the Jesus life."
-- Dr. Eugene Peterson