Now a confirmed atheist, I've become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.

I used to avoid this truth by applauding - as you can - the practical work of mission churches in Africa. It's a pity, I would say, that salvation is part of the package, but Christians black and white, working in Africa, do heal the sick, do teach people to read and write; and only the severest kind of secularist could see a mission hospital or school and say the world would be better without it. I would allow that if faith was needed to motivate missionaries to help, then, fine: but what counted was the help, not the faith.

But this doesn't fit the facts. Faith does more than support the missionary; it is also transferred to his flock. This is the effect that matters so immensely, and which I cannot help observing.

Read the whole thing.

HT: Justin Taylor

The Advent of Humility

HT: Justin Taylor

Here's the entire article... Eric Redmond: "Living Soli Deo Gloria Under Obama"

Let Christians Vote as Though They were Not Voting

Click here for the entire review.

I am looking forward to hearing what Chan has to say.

If you have been like me, you've been losing some sleep watching the Olympics.  I made a comment to someone before they started that I wasn't all that interested... well, Michael, Shawn, Nastia and "The Lightning Bolt" have certainly made me eat those words (If you don't know who those people are, then you really have been missing out).  Anyway, it probably is good that the Olympics will be finishing up this weekend because we have a lot coming up with Inversion!   

This Saturday, we will be at Owl Creek Park in Brentwood, eating some good food and listening to Jimmy Needham perform live.  Then on Thursday, August 28th we will launch into our Fall Message series entitled Unveiled - Discovering the Greatness of God and the Frailty of Man in Genesis .  We've seen many of you throughout the Summer, but it will be great to catch up with a lot of you guys who have been out on the road the past couple of months.  See you soon! 

Treasuring Christ and the Call to Suffer

These talks were given last fall at Wheaton College and I find them especially timely in light of recent global tragedies in Myanmar, China and Lietnohm, Sudan (Fellowship has a close partnership with this community in Sudan).

Inversion is moving into a new season, but our hope is that we go even deeper into what God has called us to.  We are still called to find our satisfaction in Jesus, and to give our lives away for the Glory of God and the good of people.  We are so thankful for what God is doing in us, through both the joy and pain of following Him in his mission.  Let us therefore walk on in whatever specific mission he has set before us.

Thoughts on Super Bowl XLII

I pray each of us might pause and thank God today in light of the progress which has been labored for in America and to ask him for a continued work in areas of equality and justice in our society today.  I enjoyed John Piper's blog on MLK day - http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1026/

You guys did an incredible job of giving to the Inverted Thanksgiving: Local and Global efforts! We exceeded our goal of 3000 cans and contributed 3681 canned goods to the Salvation Army and Nashville Social Services! Our partnership with them will help provide food baskets to 300 families during the Thanksgiving holiday. Additionally, we gave over 70 shoeboxes through Operation Christmas Child. These shoeboxes will be sent to children all over the world, who otherwise would not receive anything for Christmas. We are so thankful for your generous giving, and we pray that the recipients of these gifts would see them as only coming from the good hand of Jesus. Have a great Thanksgiving, and we'll see you next Thursday (11/29) as we ask the question Do We Really Want Jesus?

Happenings

Inversion Gulf Coast Recovery Trip - On Dec 30th through Jan 5th Inversion will return for the third time to Ocean Springs, MS to help with ongoing recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina. Registration deadline for the trip is Dec. 3rd.

Fellowship Church Directory Photos - Fellowship has partnered with Lifetouch to produce a church member directory. There will be special photo sessions before and after the Gathering on Nov. 29th to make it easy for those who attend Inversion to participate. If you are a member, plan to come between 5:30pm-7:00pm or following the Gathering until 11:00pm to have our photo taken.

On a side note... C.J. Mahaney has written an invaluable little book on this topic, appropriately entitled Humility: True Greatness. This book has meant a ton to me and some of the guys I walk with in Community.

The truth is that I have several convictions regarding Halloween. I despise the pagan aspects of it. I am convicted that my children should not dress as little devils or ghosts or monsters. But I am also convicted that there could be no worse witness to the neighbours than having a dark house, especially in a neighbourhood like ours which is small and where every person and every home is highly-visible. We know that, if we choose not to participate, the neighbors will notice and will smile knowingly, supposing that we feel too good to participate. We have nothing to fear from our neighbours or from their children. So my children will dress up (my son as a police officer and my daughter as a princess) and we will visit each of our neighbours, knocking on their doors and accepting their fistfuls of candy. Either my wife or I will remain at home, greeting people at our door with a smile and a handful of something tasty. If the kids are deemed too old to trick-or-treat, they'll be forced to sing a song to merit any handouts. Our door will be open and the light will be on. And we trust that the Light will shine brightly.

My encouragement to you today is to think and pray about this issue. I do not see Halloween as a great evangelistic occasion. I do not foresee it as a time when the people coming to your door are likely to be saved. But I do think it is a time that you can prove to your neighbors that you care about them, that you care about their children, and that you are glad to be in this world and this culture, even if you are not of this world or this culture. Halloween may serve as a bridge to the hearts of those who live around you who so desperately need a Savior.

As for my family... Haddon will go as his much beloved favorite animal, a dog. Hayes, at 13 weeks, doesn't really enjoy his outfit, but will have to suffer for a little while as a caterpillar. I will do my best not to rob them of their candy. Happy Reformation Day!

This Thursday should be lots of fun as we return to the Barn for our Intersection discussion entitled Green and the Gospel (Christianity and the Environment).  We encourage you to read the suggested articles before you come on Thursday.  See you in a couple of days! 

If you weren't at last Thursday's Intersection on the Emerging Church, I highly recommend that you listen to Reid's wrap up comments. His contribution to the conversation is important and worth listening to. Click here to listen and read the related article. Also, if you haven't signed up for the East Nashville Harvest Kids Club coming up on Oct. 20th, jump on board now! This Thursday we will be continuing our journey in the Gospel of Mark as we move into chapter 6. See you Thursday!

Last Thursday Ray McKelvy showed us what it looks like when our story collides with the story of Jesus. What an incredible thing it is when we see this happening. If you have missed any of the Signposts messages you can listen to them here. This Thursday we will host our first Intersection of the Fall. These are always really great times to discuss, with friends, important issues of our day. This time we will talk about the Emerging Church. If you have no idea what this is or don't care to know, trust me, it is a very important conversation. We always like for you guys to do some preparatory reading for Intersection Gatherings so click here for some good articles which are relevant to the discussion. See you on Thursday!

It really was great to get away with many of you on the Missio Dei Retreat. Tom Pussel, one of the teaching pastors at Fellowship Louisville, took us on a four-part journey into the meaning and application of what it would look like to join God on his mission in the world. The talks will be available soon, so be looking for them. In the mean time, take a look at some of the fun photos from the weekend... Retreat Pictures. We truly had a great time enjoying God and each other. This Thursday, we will continue to look at the Mission of Jesus as Ray McKelvy leads us into Mark 4. See you Thursday!

I grabbed two of our men and said to them "That is church planting..." Notes have been coming in to me via e-mail and Facebook this morning from our people who just had a great time.  On Saturday night we met with Jesus at his table and I watched my Inversion family participate in Jesus' body and blood and I lost it.  I love you guys - and I am leaving soon.  Jesus is doing a great work in us the Inversion community, to send all of us into this world, into culture with the gospel.  Also, I know some of you were at the retreat who are not sure you are all in with the Jesus thing...we love you.

I am so prayerful that Bible belt folks would step out of "I like this band, I like this preaching, this place has great kids ministry, consumerist church shopping nonsense" and beg God that our mission is about him, about the broken, the lost all around us.  Too often in my conversations over the last three years I have met Christian after Christian that simply have no relational contact with non Christians.  This must change - this weekend I saw God's light breaking onto many of us, that we must change...to be with the people whom Jesus spent time with - tax collectors, sinners, prostitutes...or in our day the guy at work, folks at the bar, people at the clubs, the waitress we work with, people downtown in impossible circumstances, the person across the street.   We do not need to go change everyone, get them to buy a certain flavor of upstanding appearances...but we need to be with them and tell them about Jesus, a Jesus who redeems and rebuilds lives, saves souls and brings a Kingdom.   This has been my hope and prayer for us - and for myself and my family. We all fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace...he then calls to us "follow me" and he meant it.  His road was with sinners, his disdain for the self-righteous and religious, his compassion was on sheep without shepherds, his destination a cross of shame, yet to then conquer death and be raised.  This is our message - a crucified and risen God - whose hope dawns every day, his mercies new every morning...Great is his faithfulness.  We are his ambassadors that means we rep his rule and reign in the world among those who remain under the dominion of a wicked ruler whose cruelty is immense and whose time is short.  I am thankful to be called a follower of this Jesus - that he would have anything to do with me, let alone love us as ravenously as he does, and give us a mission in his world. 

I know our ministry has inched forward these three years, but we have been more about reshaping our community, our passions, our hearts than simply filling up rooms.  This was a good weekend in that evolution - which by God's grace will turn into a revolution in all of our lives.

To my Inversion family - go now and follow Jesus...fear not, love deeply and give your life away.

The Valley of Vision

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision. Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine; let me find Thy light in my darkness, Thy life in my death, Thy joy in my sorrow, Thy grace in my sin, Thy riches in my poverty, Thy glory in my valley. 

There is a book of these sort of prayers under the same title - you can order that here.  Finally, Max McLean, a professional dramatist reads these prayers on audio CD - these are sweet.

But in this world heaven is rebelling against hell. For the orthodox there can always be a revolution; for a revolution is a restoration. At any instant you may strike a blow for the perfection which no man has seen since Adam.

See everyone on Thursday...look for this quote somewhere in the junk drawer this week.

Reid

Last Thursday we had a great start to our journey in Mark. Reid pointed out that some of us are so familiar with the narrative of Jesus that it has lost its "magic". I know that this has certainly been the case at different times in my life. If you weren't able to make it to the Gathering last Thursday, I strongly encourage you to listen to Reid's overview talk here. This week, we will jump into chapter 1 of Mark.

On a slightly different note, Reid mentioned something last Thursday in his overview of Inversion that you may or may not have picked up on if you are new. In essence, he mentioned that Inversion is currently involved in the planting of a church in New Jersey. Last April, Reid announced that sometime in the Spring of 08' he and his family would be moving to Middlesex County New Jersey to start Jacob's Well. In light of this, the Monaghan family is in the process of raising funds for this new church. If you would like to learn more about how you can be involved in this mission to the Northeast click here. Also, you really need to watch the Jacob's Well Video ... it really is an incredible work God has called the Monaghans to. See you on Thursday!

Or, for a little help - just click here.

I found this video to be very helpful in the cause...once you watch it, get ready for the New Testament, Gospels and Mark article coming to the web site soon and available free on modern papyrus on Thursday night.

The Medieval Help Desk - too funny...

Further evidence has been found that our crusade for reading is very much needed.

HT - Justin Taylor

If you saw Reid's previous post then you need no other reasons to show up to the Kickoff this Saturday. Invite your friends and remind them of our first Gathering next Thursday!

So I have been known from time to time to drop top ten lists as a method of rhetorical persuasion. So...here we go, the top ten reasons to come to the Inversion Kickoff:

And the number one reasons to hang out at the Inversion Kickoff

It is hot, so take the fashion tip from the Tennessean - Wear a light-colored, wide-brimmed hat and light-colored, lightweight, loose clothing.

It sounds like John Piper does not know who Michael Jackson is...is that BAD?

I for one am getting pretty stoked about our upcoming season together in Inversion. Having been in the Gospel of Luke in my personal devotions lately has really gotten me excited about our journey in Mark. My hope and prayer is that our time looking directly at Jesus over the next few months will propel us forward on the Mission of God.

Also, I just thought I would remind you that we won't be having Gatherings the next two weeks, and will begin our new series Signposts - A Journey in the Gospel of Mark on Thursday August 30th. In the meantime, enjoy some gruelingly hot August Volleyball!!

See you next Saturday, August 25th, at the Fall Kickoff!

Hey folks, I'm proud to say that I am now the father of a second little dude. Hayes Judson Phipps was born last Tuesday, 7/31, weighing in at a slim 6 pounds, 1 ounce. The amazing thing is that in one week he has put on 12 ounces of weight. I think Amy is feeding him protein enriched milk! Amy and Hayes are doing great, and our 18 month old, Haddon, is loving his little brother. Check out some pics here. The summer flow for Inversion is coming to a close this Thursday with the last Song of Solomon session. We will be looking at chapter 8, verses 5-14, The Art of Commitment. Come out as we wrap up the summer and look ahead to what is in store for the fall.

Mark your calendar for these important upcoming events:

This summer there have been some amazing works of God in some people that we all just need to know about...

Peru and Slovenia

We had two fantastic trips into the world to serve among our brothers and sisters abroad. Our teams were unified, they worked hard, they proclaimed and displayed Jesus. We are thankful that you are Christ's ambassadors, we are humbled that you were ours.

Fletcher Maynard

Responding to God's call towards mission, Fletcher Maynard attended a training for people working with folks from other religions in NYC. After returning God has led him to move to Columbia, SC to complete a certificate in Biblical studies in preparation for mission work. Today, I received a text from Fletcher...

What is this Inversion stuff all about anyway if we are not stepping out...

Amen brother - like a shoutin preacher, I say with you, Amen.

Shaun Dean

Shaun has been wrestling with a call towards pastoral ministry, teaching/preaching - perhaps church planting. To take steps towards that Shaun was recently accepted as a student at Southern Seminary. He'll be in classes with his pastor now...who will be working on his degree until the second coming - smile. Pray for Shaun as he balances life, work, school and life in the Inversion Fellowship.

David Hurst

David Hurst continues his online training at Moody Bible - someday he hopes to follow somewhere in the world where the gospel is needed. In the meantime he continues to lead our Peru efforts, a community group and plays a mean Bass in the upside down nobodies. And I hear he is consistently employee of the millennium at work. DA-veed - we got love for you brother.

Tim Dees and Ben Schellack

Some of you are aware of this little idea God has placed in our hearts called Jacob's Well. If not skip over to that web site to check it out. God is leading some of us outward to plant churches in the Northeast. No, that part of the country does not "belong to the devil" - the things you hear in the south... Some of you know that two of our own, Tim Dees and his compadre Ben Schellack, moved to New Brunswick, NJ this week as spies in the land before the Monaghans (and some of you!?) move north next summer. Tim sent out a note today entitled "I Heart NJ" of which I felt compelled to share just a few tid bits:

You go Tim - the White House will hook you up with work in New Jersey. Please pray for Jacob's Well. We need prayer, friends and some funds to move up in 10 months.

Hayes Phipps

Yes, a new Phipps has entered the world. I love praying over babies:

Little Hayes. You have not met us yet, but you soon will. We pray that the hand of the Sovereign God would be upon your life to guide you into his Kingdom. May you find the Jesus your father teaches you about strong and true, beautiful, wild and fascinating. May you bow your knee to him and follow him on mission in the world - may you start some sanctified trouble in the world to the honor of his name. God has so found fit to put you in a great family - may you live upside down for his name.

Jennifer Leddy

To the new director of Inversion service and our deacon for Inversion women. To the one formerly known as Jen Baze. Welcome anew to the team and congrats on you and Patrick's union.

All of You Crazy Inversion Peoples

To all of you living, working jobs, praying, struggling, sharing, serving, aching forward and holding forth Jesus in the great lands of NashVegas. To those of you who are faithful to see, savor and follow Jesus in the churchy lands we live. To put away the pretense, to drop the fake baked crap, repent of sin, hold to the gospel, love Scripture and live upside down. You guys inspire me - I can't wait for Tommy Nelson to be finished with teaching us about romance so that we can walk together into the story of Jesus in the gospel of Mark. It all begins August 30

Much love to all of you - hope you are enjoying the new web site.

Your brother, pastor and soon to be church planter

Reid

PS - I just entered facebook world. I still am not cool.

I wanted to drop a note and give an brief introduction to the new Inversion web site. We cranked on this thing over the summer with our good friends at Church Plant Media. I think you are going to find it very useful and a big leap forward for us. A few highlights

Well, I am sure I missed something, but this is a fun day for us. Our ministry has grown up a bit over the last three years and our web site has come of age as well.

Soli Deo Gloria

Reid S. Monaghan, for all of Team Inversion