In less than an hour, I will head to the airport, and fly to Philly via Chicago Midway (please, no snow). I can’t wait to hang with Todd Hiestand, speak at The Well and connect with others such as Laurence, and Tom.

Hopefully, I’ll get to spend some time with students who are on a mission trip from the burbs to Downtown Philly, and share about God’s heart for the global poor!

These are some great dudes who have a heart for God, mission and the poor. I know I will be blessed to spend time with these dudes.

Yesterday, after service at Soma, a group of us were eating at Torchy’s Tacos, one of their members said this:

Sunday, is basically an after-thought to us, it’s the rest of the week that counts.

Now, I’m not saying don’t do Sunday’s well, matter-of-fact, the service was well done and thoughtful. Yet, it’s not the high-point of the week for this church community.

Also, much of the Sunday gathering had to do with what was going on outside of the gathering, such as serving the local homeless community, building a water-well with Living Waters International, and serve orphans in Zimbabwe, etc!

Just a reminder, that yes Sunday is important, but yet, it’s only one day of the week, and the mission is accomplished on those other six days!

In Mark Batterson’s third book, he tries to get the reader back to a “primal Christianity.” In essence, he attempts to remove the multiple layers of culture and religion that has sunk the Western Church into a mere form of institution, rather than the movement that it’s called to be. The author tends to focus on a few key areas that he considers primal.

1. Justice: I was a bit surprised, and happy, to find so much focus on the issue of justice. Mark strives to help us re-imagine what scripture states about serving those who are on the underside of power.

2. Hearing God: Throughout the book, there is a huge focus on spiritual disciplines. Praying, scripture reading and doing. Needless to say, the author is humble, passionate and compassionate. He writes with a sense of balance, love and wide-spread knowledge.

There is no doubt, that once we read this book we will have a pathway to live a more missional life, that will in fact help us move back in-time to a profusely, primal version of Christianity, so we can move forward with a vision to see a better way if serving Jesus, and following in His footsteps!

Some books offer a tremendous balance and Live Sent is one of those books, it has the ability to influence a wide-spread audience, which not only includes church leaders, but also those folks who are called to minister outside the four-walls of the church.

It’s vital for the church to grasp what it means to truly be on mission in our day to day lives, and this book will help us figure out what that mission looks like.

Let me share some quotes:

The Sender (God) delivered His message to us and then writes His message in us and through us for us to deliver to others.

Our mission will always be determined by who or what it is we live for.

That’s our mission as letters from Him. To carry His through word and deed into all the world-both around the corner and around the globe.

I think Live Sent could be used in multiple settings. But, I would highly encourage small groups to read this book and discuss it’s implications. Because of the missional praxis that it offers, if we truly embrace the message, we can live a more missional life, filled with meaning and impact as we all embrace the reality that God calls every Christ-follower to “live-sent” in his or her culture.

I encourage you to buy the book, read it, discuss it, blog it, tweet it and spread the word; that we are all called to “live-sent” as disciples of Jesus!

Here are some ways you can connect with Jason.

- Live Sent Website
- @jasoncdukes
- Twubs-Live Sent

• Serve on a committee
• Help out with kids.
• Serve on the set-up & tear down team, etc!

We could go on and on and on. Now, serving the local church is a good thing. I love the local church. But, we’ve put so much energy in serving the local church, we’ve literally forgotten about those on the other-side-of-the-gate, those who live without God, those who suffer deeply, those who are in need.

Our faith will shine brightest, and our works will bear much fruit, when we go into the darkness and be-light and create beauty. The Church must be on display in the midst of the culture-and remember, you are the church!

So yes…serve the local church. But, don’t allow the local church to keep you away from loving and serving the people who are outside the local church-these are the people that need you the most…! They need to see the Kingdom on display, by your mixture of faith and works.

Also, as members of the local church, we should be doing this together as a whole. Another-words, “we” go out and serve people together as Christ’s church!

Roosevelt was a gifted communicator and had more charisma than one man should be allowed. That said, he was passionate for the gospel, church and youth in particular. He used his gifts to spread the gospel and impact the church.

I found out this weekend that RH died of colon cancer. He was 46 and left behind a wife and two young kids. He will be deeply missed, but he left a legacy for all of us to follow. Someday we will rejoice in heaven together, until that day, we shed tears and remember the good times and ministry that we all shared.

The video above, was his last sermon…He died fighting, preaching and encouraging the saints. He lived for things that are eternal…He died with honor.

R.I.P. Roosevelt Hunter!!!