I am thankful for the many voices, resources, institutions, and ministries who assist the local church in living out a missional lifestyle. The purpose of Missional Monday is to raise awareness and foster conversations around the need for the New Testament churches to be missionaries in their individual contexts. I regularly share my own thoughts on this subject here at The Road Less Traveled. However, mine is not the only voice. Because our work is a kingdom work, I want to connect the readers of this blog with others who are speaking about missional living. I hope this collection of thinkers and ministries will further challenge you to live a missional lifestyle.

Read:  Autopsy of a Deceased Church: 12 Ways to Keep Yours Alive by Thom Rainer. Autopsy is a short, but powerful book based on interviews that Rainer conducted with the staff/leadership 12 closed churches. Through these personal interviews he identified trends and symptoms of dying churches: lack of evangelization, inward focus, lack of prayer, and failure to budget for mission work, etc.  Rainer’s hope is that the autopsy conducted on the 12 dead churches will aid current churches in recognizing similar symptoms and make the necessary adjustments before it’s too late. Along with highlighting symptoms that lead to the death of the 12 churches, he provides suggestions on how churches can reverse the dying process.

Follow:  Henry Criss. Henry is the Lead Pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Ridgeland, SC. Henry is a good friend of mine and is currently in a replanting work at Faith. His approach to the work necessary to revitalize a church whose doors were near closing is encouraging and insightful. You can follow him on Twitter – @HenryCriss

Get to Know: Clubhouse Guatemala. Clubhouse is a Christ centered ministry founded in 2008 whose focus is making a difference in the lives of children and adults through block parties, shoe distribution, face painting, Vacation Bible School, and other visible demonstrations of Christ’s love. Clubhouse also assists with discipleship and education and provides many physical needs including medical/dental, water filters, school supplies, and much more. Clubhouse’s focus is meeting the physical needs so they may to earn the right to meet the spiritual needs of adults and children. I am thankful that First Baptist Perry partners with Clubhouse Guatemala and sends mission teams annually.