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Today we are experiencing the horror of a school shooting in Connecticut that has resulted in the death of nearly thirty children. It is at times like this when I fall to my knees and ask God, “Why?” Where is God in the midst of this kind of tragic violence? Why did God allow this senselessness to happen? Why? Each one of the children in the Antioch Movement could have been at that school today. Why? We live in a world that is broken beyond our comprehension. Human sin is rampant. Self-hatred and hatred of others is at an all time high. Hate and distrustRead More →

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When I began the process of church planting there was one thing that became abundantly clear, vision is the first casualty. Every time I share with someone about what is happening with the Antioch Movement they have advice for me. This advice is their vision, their hope, their dream of the church. It seems like every time a conversation like this takes place there is a vortex that grows. Another voice is added to a litany of other voices that are clamoring for attention. When you add to this the details, hoops, and other things that call for your attention it becomes easier and easier to move away fromRead More →

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I have recently had a few people tell me, “Pastors keep failing. I think that God is raising up athletes to be his spokesmen to reach this generation.” Then the names of certain prominent Christian athletes are brought up. Pastors fail all the time. So do athletes. The ones we know about are also celebrities. Christian celebrity is a new phenomenon. It really began with the First Great Awakening. Prior to that most pastors labored locally. Some traveled (the Methodists are the best example) but most settled in for a long faithful pastorate caring for and preaching the gospel to a particular people. In theRead More →

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In the previous post we looked at the necessity of rightly understanding our Christian identity. Now we must ask, what is our uniquely Christian identity? Many times when I think about Christian identity the image of a superhero pops into my mind. Almost all superheroes have secret identities. They go through their everyday lives as mild mannered citizens. Then when a problem occurs they break out of their “mild mannered citizen” appearance and turn into Superman, Spiderman, or Batman and save the day. Their friends always wonder where they went during the crisis. The thing is, this is a terrible image of Christian identity.  Superheroes are notRead More →

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The follower of Jesus is a strange person. He does not fit any place. Jesus told him to “be in the world, not of the world.” What does that even mean? Christians have been struggling with this concept ever since Jesus said it. Yesterday I spent some time with a group of men that I affectionately refer to as The Calvinistas. Our conversation turned to the topic of what it means to be in the world, what is our responsibility as an individual Christian? What about the church corporate? These are important questions because they go to the heart of our mission as followers ofRead More →

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When many people think about “church” they think about a building where people go on Sunday mornings to sing and hear a book report. We want to flip the script on that kind of thinking. For a movement to start, the people of God have to realize that it is people who are the “church” not a building or gathering. Many new churches start with a worship service and build out small groups from there to care for the people that are coming on Sunday morning. We want to start with mission groups all over the place and then, as a result, gather together toRead More →

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At the Antioch Movement we are committed to sending. It is part of our DNA. We are a sending community seeking those far from God. We invite you to listen to this message by Dan, one of our movement architects, to get a sense of why we are so committed to being sent.Read More →

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“And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matt 9:35-38) This is one of those “vision” passages that have captured my imagination for quite some time. I remember hearing it for the first time whenRead More →

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We are launching The Antioch Movement with purpose and clarity. The purpose is to launch a global movement of missionary communities that function as ambassadors of King Jesus. We are clear that this movement is to be built by multiplying missionary communities that begin in Ypsilanti, MI and spread to the very ends of the Earth. As we are stepping out into this glorious adventure we often get a very simple question that has significant implications. Why are you moving to Ypsilanti when you only live fifteen minutes away? This question is powerful. It is based in what I call the “Dream of Detroit”. DetroitRead More →