The Heart Of The Mission

As Christians, and especially as people who work for the Church, we are part of an incredible mission: to bring people to Jesus. Jesus himself gave us this mission when he said, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" (Mt 28:19). Yet it is far too easy to get caught up in the day-to-day details of our work — so much so that we can lose sight of our true mission. In The Heart of the Mission: Simple Ways to Bring People to Jesus, Cande de Leon shows what it takes to get back on track. With wisdom and humor born of his own experience, he shows how our Christian mission always begins and ends with people. To help us live this in our daily life and work, he guides us through three transformational principles for ministry and life: Strengthening relationships Boldly growing engagement Connecting people to the mission Whether you are a pastor, part of a parish staff, or a volunteer at your home parish, these principles apply to you. Because if we really want to make transformational change in our Church and our world, we first have to recognize the people in front of us — who they are, what they need, what gifts God has given them, and how he is inviting them to participate in the mission of the Church. Not merely another program to transform your parish, this book offers a simple yet radical invitation to roll up your sleeves and make a difference by getting back to basics.>/p> ABOUT THE AUTHOR Cande de Leon has served as executive director of the Office of Mission Advancement for the Diocese of Phoenix since 2016. He leads a team committed to advancing the mission of Christ through stewardship, evangelization, and discipleship formation. He spent seven years in the Diocese of Corpus Christi serving as the director of parish stewardship and development, where he raised over $37 million (with a goal of $18 million) for the Legacy of Faith ~ Future of Hope Capital & Endowment Campaign. Cande has been married to his wife, Rosemary, for 22 years. They have four daughters.

An illustrated, in-depth examintion of the avant-garde and politically radical Latino art of San Francisco's Mission District In The Heart of the Mission, Cary Cordova combines urban, political, and art history to examine how the Mission District, a longtime bohemian enclave in San Francisco, has served as an important place for an influential and largely ignored Latino arts movement from the 1960s to the present. Well before the anointment of the "Mission School" by art-world arbiters at the dawn of the twenty-first century, Latino artists, writers, poets, playwrights, performers, and filmmakers made the Mission their home and their muse. The Mission, home to Chileans, Cubans, Guatemalans, Mexican Americans, Nicaraguans, Puerto Ricans, and Salvadorans never represented a single Latino identity. In tracing the experiences of a diverse group of Latino artists from the 1940s to the turn of the century, Cordova connects wide-ranging aesthetics to a variety of social movements and activist interventions. The book begins with the history of the Latin Quarter in the 1940s and the subsequent cultivation of the Beat counterculture in the 1950s, demonstrating how these decades laid the groundwork for the artistic and political renaissance that followed. Using oral histories, visual culture, and archival research, she analyzes the Latin jazz scene of the 1940s, Latino involvement in the avant-garde of the 1950s, the Chicano movement and Third World movements of the 1960s, the community mural movement of the 1970s, the transnational liberation movements in Nicaragua and El Salvador, and the AIDS activism of the 1980s. Through these different historical frames, Cordova links the creation of Latino art with a flowering of Latino politics.

This is no ordinary missions book. The theme isn't new, but the approach is refreshing and compelling, as contributors David Platt, Louie Giglio, Michael Ramsden, Ed Stetzer, Michael Oh, David Mathis, and John Piper take up the mantle of the Great Commission and its Spirit-powered completion. From astronomy to exegesis, from apologetics to the Global South, from being missional at home to employing our resources in the global cause, Finish the Mission aims to breathe fresh missionary fire into a new generation, as together we seek to reach the unreached and engage the unengaged.

DO YOU WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD, but feel overwhelmed by all there is to do? Do you sometimes doubt that significant change is even possible? There is good news. God isn't worried about the future of the world, nor is God merely bringing minor changes. “Behold, I make all things new,” says the Lord. The coming kingdom brings total transformation, metamorphosis. What's more, God doesn't call us to carry the burdens of the world and its transformation on our own shoulders. Christ carries the world and by the power of the Spirit we live in Christ.We do not have a mission for God in the world. Rather, the God of mission has us in the world.Each of us has a vital role in the world. We are invited to participate God's generous love bringing heaven to earth through us, now!The seven sessions of BEYOND Duty guide individuals, groups and churches to our places as participants in God's mission in the world.I originally wrote Beyond Duty to help liberate mission fanatics like me from enslavement to a human-centered approach to mission. That liberation is still needed today. In our eagerness to make a difference in the world we can quickly subvert the good news of God's sovereign love into our ambitious, burdensome and at times tedious effort to fulfill our mission in the world. This revised and expanded edition pursues this, seeking God's liberating grace to free us from the vain presumption that the future of God's mission is up to us. Through a combination of our compassion regarding urgent needs, what feels to us like the inactivity of God, and the drive of our own need to make a difference in the world—many of us all too easily take the needs of the world onto our shoulders as our personal responsibility. This sounds so foolish. However, mission narcissism runs deep. Though it may be obvious, it still deserves to be said again: Our central commitment is to God and God's kingdom, not to ourselves or our service for God in that kingdom. To make anything other than loving God and living in God's love for our neighbor—even something as good and noble as God's mission in the world—the central passion and commitment of our life is just plain old idolatry dressed in Christian clothing. I've lived much of my life seeking to serve in God's mission, but I wonder at times for whom I am really working. My suspicion is that sometimes I've spread the unpleasant aroma of my need to make a difference in the world more than the “sweet aroma of Christ.” In my more honest moments, I admit that some of “my mission” was to reinforce my sense of significance. It's so easy to become intoxicated by the seductive lies of our society that size determines significance, speed measures impact, and worth depends on success. The gospel frees us to live from the center of God's encompassing love. We needn't live from the burdensome center of “me”. It's not about my mission, ambitions, work and weaknesses. We can live as grateful participants in God's love for the world. In the midst of our obedient service, we can sing and play and not take ourselves so seriously.What others are saying about BEYOND Duty:“A refreshing departure from usual mission books.” Emmanuel Katongole “I am pleased to recommend this book to you.” Bill Hybels “This may be the most important book I've read all year!” Steve Haas “An excellent, practical tool for churches.” Ron Sider “Read this rich reflection and serve with freedom.” Mark Labberton “Inviting, full of stories, Christ-centered.” Steve & Sharol Hayner“Substantial and practical. I commend it warmly.” Vinay Samuel “This is a wise guide.” Tom Theriault

This book brings together a passion for the church and a passion for global mission. It looks at the heart of the UK church, asking whether and how it beats for mission and explores the passion of the mission community, and asks how it involves the local church. You might be forgiven for expecting that the heart of church and the heart of mission would be interwoven and closely linked together, but that has not been the case. Two significant historical events continue to shape the church and mission in the Western World. Christendom removed mission from the church and the launch of the missionary societies disengaged the local church from mission. Although there is plenty of talk of change, the dominant mind-set is still shaped by these events. Practical suggestions are directed at churches and agencies with the aim of re-establishing, Mission at the heart of the church and the church at the heart of mission. The world is a different place to when the "modern" Western mission movement developed. Yet many of the same structures exist today, in both churches and mission agencies. The church in the West needs to engage in new and appropriate ways in the world, building on history but not being bound by it. Bryan's prophetic call is to new ways of thinking, new attitudes and clear Biblical principles and deserves a wide audience. The Global Church deserves no less than a fresh approach to obeying His command to join together in God's mission in His world. Martin Lee, Executive Director, Global Connections, UK Bryan Knell has been involved with mission for over 40 years. Firstly, in the International Student world with UCCF and then, following some theological study, Bryan was the UK Director of Arab World Ministries for 16 years and the Founding Coordinator of CRIB (Christian Responses to Islam in Britain) for 15 years. More recently, he has worked for Global Connections as the Church Relations Director and is still involved in ministry to Muslims in the UK.

In his twentieth novel, John le Carré returns to Africa with a new tale of mystery and corruption that bears the hallmarks of classic le Carré storytelling. By turns thriller, romance, and exposé of post-colonial politics, The Mission Song chronicles interpreter Bruno Salvador’s journey into the darkness of Western hypocrisy and deceit. Born to a Congolese mother and an Irish–French father and educated in Britain, “Salvo” is the faithful servant eager to play his minor part in brokering a deal that would ostensibly bring peace and prosperity to the resource-rich but ravaged Congo. But Salvo finds himself both hunter and prey when he stumbles into a carefully plotted swindle that will only further devastate his birthplace.