ChosenRebel's Blog

Links are below the picture:

Stories about Intensely Local Ministry

Our churches need to relearn how to take the gospel to our neighbors rather than wait for them to come to us. This page is filled with links to give examples and stories of how some in the body of Christ are finding success in this journey to take the gospel to the world. Ideas and stories to inspire nearly anyone to be more effective in taking the gospel to their neighbors.  Newest links are added at the top.

1. The Day the Rabbi Drew Question Marks  (NEW)
2. Ask a Different Question  (Genius approach to loving your neighbor.)
3. Planting Goodness in Your Neighborhood.  (This is the kind of creativity we need to penetrate the culture. Story from a church planter in Israel.)  New
4. Can a Miracle Start Slowly?  (Using a crisis hurricane to build relationships)  (NEW)
5. Why Appeals to Discipleship Make us Feel Guilty  (Link to a great Internet Monk article)  

1. The Spiritual Warfare of Potato Peeling
2. Breaking the Ice with Your Neighbors
3. Find a Neighbor and Love Them
4. What if We Treated Our Neighbors Like Family? (A way to transform your neighborhood relationships.) 
5. Oklahoma Woman Turns a Robbery Attempt into an Opportunity to Demonstrate the Love of Christ  (There are opportunities to do this kind of thing all around us. Pray that God would give you eyes to see them and a heart to respond.)   [Sorry, this link is broken and I haven’t found its replacement]
   
6. Free Guide to Being Missional with a free ebook included.
7. “Then You Came”  [Not my story but a great challenge to be the “then you came” person to the people in our lives who need us to be there in the heartaches and hard times so that life can be endured for the glory of Christ.] [Another disappoiting broken link. I’m working on it.]
8. Using “Wait Time” for the Gospel Good of Your Neighbors
9. How to Fall in Love with Pagans
10. Learning to Care for Pagans
11. Bob (not his real name) is a Greeter at Walmart. 
12. Starting Parties for the Joy of Our Neighbors and the Glory of God.
13. When are We Most Like the Apostle Paul? (winter video) 
14. Unprepared  (winter)
15. Finding the Man of Peace in the Neighborhood

16. Weekend Thoughts on Intensely Local Ministry
17. Snoring, Bus-mates and a Grandmother
18. Pressing the Flesh in the Neighborhood 
19. What do you say when your neighbor says he is probably going to hell?
20. Boys Night Out with Six Residents of Vernon Hills

21. Intensely Local Ministry is as Simple as a Garden Trowel
22. 18 Years of Ineffective Ministry 
23. Living Missionally in a Multi-Ethnic Hood.
24. Now That’s My Kind of Church! (video)
25. Listening on a Train (Terry Ivy)

26. Not a Christian (as far as I know) but a great model of how to turn a bad situation into a positive opportunity for relationship (NPR audio or read) 
27. Making Disciples with Asparagus
28. A Windstorm, A Hatchet, and a Neighbor
29. A Day in a Police Cruiser 
30. What Does It Mean to Raise the Bar on What it Means to be a Disciple? (See comments too)

31. Incarnation: The Most Radical Intensely Local Ministry Ever 
    
32. Intensely Local Ministry is as Simple as a Garden Trowel (New)
33. Making Jesus the Issue Behind Every Door in Your Neighborhood
    
34. Can Five Questions Change Your Next Conversation with Your Neighbor? 
35. “Church Isn’t Only on Sunday” (Great article from an EFCA pastor on making your small group truly missional.)

36. Christians, Come Out of Hibernation, Your Neighbors Need You   
37. “What to do when you are down, overwhelmed, and kinda undone” [a story of what a divorced, single mother of two toddlers did to serve her community —from Ann Voskamp’s blog]  
38. (A Waffle-House Encounter  (one pastor’s true story)    [ Warning: Offensive Language ]
39. The Creativity of a Lover
40. The Voice of God: “Just Show Up”