7
May

Mystic Update


Welcome back. You belong here.

VOXTROPOLIS World Music Jam

You can help create history this summer. On Saturday, May 13 at 4.00PM (PST) we’re going to send out [we hope] the first ever “live signal” from VOXTROPOLIS.COM. This will only be a “beta test” in anticipation of the January 2007 launch of the VOX site, but it will be a historic event.

This Saturday, you’ll walk through our place, meet all kinds of personalities, and hear all kinds of music. All impromptu. Hey, with some imagination, you may even be able to smell the food we’ll be serving. In order to get ready for January’s launch, we’re going to try a few “beta test” broadcasts this summer.

Are you ready for this? Be there for the first ever live signal: Saturday, May 13, 2006, 4PM PST at voxtropolis.com. See The CLOCK TICK.

The Search for The Mystic

Ever had you house “rolled”? You know, when kids take rolls of toilet paper and unroll them all over your yard, trees and cars? Something similar happens to me. I come home every now and then and see that someone(s) has been up to mischief because I find things left at my door. I took photos on my cell phone today to document what is becoming a regular occurence.

Aggravating isn’t it? To be required to find out who is behind these kinds of things. Whoever you are. I’m going to find you. And when I do, I’m going to thank you for supporting the “Search for The Mystic.”

ORIGINS and ETHOS

It will be cozy, but there’s still room. Are you a student 28 years old or younger? Take advantage of the special rate designed just for you. LA or bust.

The International Mentoring Network

Now accepting applications for the 2007 cohort. Two 7-Day Immersion experiences next year in Orlando (February 2007) and Los Angeles (May 2007). Email alex@mosaic.org. The 2007 cohorts (online conversations) begin in September 2006, October 2006, and January 2007.

See you In The Mystic,

Alex McManus

6 comments

5
April

Mystic Leader’s Crash Course –Part 4: Wind


Welcome back. You belong here.

Mystic Leader’s Crash Course Part 4: Wind

Totally frustrated with me at my inability to help him, Lucas, my youngest son, turned and ran again, holding high his new kite on a short leash, trying in vain to catch a breeze.

“You need better wind,” I told him as he made another pass with kite flying inches over his head.

Wind related activity like pulling kites on strings, hoisting sails, building windmills, all come after the wind not before it. The Christ following movement is a wind related activity. The reason churches fail to fly is that they forget that wind comes first.

Here’s my claim: Mission exists because God is on mission. Yes, love motivates the missionary activity of God, but we wouldn’t know this if it did not compel the missionary action of God. Love has primacy but mission has priority.
Why do the winds of mission blow? Because God loves a world that is in deep trouble. This is a description of both God and the world we live in.

We live in a world that when seen through God’s eyes motivates mission. In other words, the missionary activity of God tells us the world is broken. In a broken world, mission comes first. Mission is the evidence of love.

The only God that can be known is the God who is on mission. There are no alternatives to Him only bland substitutes. The images of the God of nurture and therapy so dear to the heart of the American church, the sovereign God of the reformation in whose arms the elect are all safe, the creator God of neo-orthodoxy in whose home all men are brothers, must all submit to the God who has revealed himself as the God on Mission. God may be all, some or none of the others – nurturer, sovereign, father – but, whatever more he is, we come to know it in the aftermath of knowing Him as a missionary God.

To create a small group, build a church building, write a credo, train a choir, rehearse a band without knowing the God on mission, is like trying to fly a kite on a windless day, hoisting a sail or building a windmill without knowledge of the wind.

We try to prove the wind by the kite. But the wind will prove itself. And the kite will make sense in light of the wind not vice versa.

What do you think?

Posts in the series: The Mystic Leader’s Crash Course

Trivia: What do these digits mean?

01.02.03.04.05.06

into the mystic…

Alex McManus

23 comments

1
December

Updates…

Welcome back.

Voxtropolis News

Three brave pioneers have been testing the new voxtropolis blog community
in preparation for the first wave of beta testers. If you’re among those who volunteered, thanks for waiting. ‘Tis almost time.

I’m hoping to create something unique through voxtropolis. Steve Watson sent me an article called ‘Web 2.0′ Has Arrived. Here’s a quote:

“We think the big change on the Internet is not just about getting more and more unique users, but, as we go forward, it’s all about deeper engagement,” said Yahoo CEO Terry Semel during a Thursday morning interview with Battelle.”

My friend, Dean Sharp, who is heading up the art side of the voxtropolis design team and I sense that we’re not just creating a blogging community, we’re building a city. A place where people can find their voices and each other. Voxtropolis —city of voices.

I Apologize in Advance for Missing our Appointment

Last week, Wednesday 23, on the day before Thanksgiving, my Mac was stolen. When the DHL delivery man came to my door, Niza was alert enough to notice that the box was light and that it had been tampered with. We asked the delivery man to open the box and discovered that it was empty. I had already been waiting a week for my G4 to return from the Apple Co. Now, nine days later, I am still without a computer. Here’s the worst part: all my backups worked except for my calendar. So, I’m sorry if you asked me speak at your event sometime in the next six to eight months and I didn’t show up.

Mystic Manifestations: Miami and Atlanta

Next week, I’ll be in MIAMI to prepare for a regional experience on February 7, 2006 and to potentially plan for a unique, culture-shaping National Experience hosted by the International Mentoring Network in February of 2007. If you’re in Miami and want to connect, email me at alex@mosaic.org or comment here. Mystic Manifestations and Movements are all over this one.

I’ll also be in ATLANTA on December 7th with Jon Simpson and Gordon Wohlers of Mosaic Atlanta who are hosting a Round Table . This is shaping up to be a really nice event. If you’re in the Atlanta area, consider joining us.

New Article

Finally, please read and comment on the latest IMN article, The gospel and conversion, leadership development and prayer. Enjoy.

What do you think?

into the mystic…

Alex McManus

20 comments

7
November

What is a church?

Part of my search for the mystic is a quest to reconstruct meaningful ways to be and build kingdom community in this new world. To do this I think we need to experience a

I’ve got more thinking to share on each of these and some ideas on a couple of new categories as well. Stay tuned. But I want to make sure that we stay true to the essentials. So today’s question is:

What is a church?

Is two or three gathered by the calling of Christ to reach people (Mission), who share the Lord’s Supper (Missional Community), and baptize converts (Missional Activity) a church? What more than this is necessary? Or is this too much? Or is it something other than these elements?

What do you think?

Blog posts of note…

For an excellent conversation that references my post on a Reversal of Kingdom Capital see Anne Jackson’s (aka “flowerdust”) post titled,money, money, money.

For an outstanding application of what we discussed on my post Fiesta for God , check out Kristi Cornwell’s post titled, The Party . Her story comes complete with a blazing fire, a barn and line dancing.

Ladies, hats off to you. Excellent stuff. Thanks for leading the way.

into the mystic…

Alex McManus

27 comments

3
November

Voxtropolis Cafe

Welcome back.

Sam Radford, UK publisher of a collaborative effort called The Kingdom Blog , asks the following question about the Voxtropolis strategy. Enjoy.

Alex,

Just wondering what your thoughts/plans were regarding Voxtropolis Cafe’s.
Establishing a Cafe as a kingdom venture has long been in my thinking.

Sam,

I’m creating a franchise of cafes and galleries [Voxtropolis cafes and Culture Pubs] that will be the “parallel universe” manifestation of the voxtropolis blog community. The cafes and galleries will point to the blog community and the blog community will point to the cafes and galleries.

This is a church planting strategy that takes both the web and the street seriously.

My goal is help church planters connect with their communities through the creation of a community-building commercial venture. This will also help bring about the reversal of Kingdom capital that I posted about on September 16 [filed under Search for The Mystic], not to mention potentially providing income for the church planter and some barista evangelists.

In the midst of it all are The Mystic –those enigmatic Christ following leaders who reside both within cyberspace and within the world of f2f relationships — for whom we search. Welcome, by the way.

What do you think?

Get on the MAP with Voxtropolis and doSul.

Get a VOX and add yourself to the mapVoxtropolis Global Map

doSul Global Map

into the mystic…

Alex McManus

37 comments

1
November

Voxtropolis World Map

Welcome back. You belong here.

Who will be finding their voices at voxtropolis.com? Check it out…

Voxtropolis World Map

Hats off and many thanks to Steve Watson , aka “breathe fire”, for yet another brilliant stroke.

The [soon to be launched] blog community known as Voxtropolis.com is one aspect of a multidimensional collaboration to reclaim western culture for Christ. Other complementary aspects are the elusive tribe known as The Mystic, the soon to manifest Voxtropolis cafes and the Culture Pubs. There’s more…

into the mystic…

Alex McManus

4 comments

25
October

Fiesta for God

Welcome back.

What are the keys to hosting a party in which spiritual conversations can be had?

How do we create social environments in which spiritual conversation doesn’t seem forced?

Jesus enjoyed good food and drink with less than acceptable people. The meals he shared with Levi and Zaccheus, both well known sinners, are still remembered today. His was a life of relationship and friend making. To be fair, he made his share of enemies. But overall, Jesus’ life was a fiesta for God.

In the last century Christ following leaders leaders became expert at building properties and running programs. In this next century we must excel once again at building relationships and throwing parties.

What are the keys to making our lives an integrated, unforced celebration of God through the parties we throw and go to?

What do you think?

into the mystic…

Alex McManus

49 comments

24
October

The First Podcast From Space and The First List from the Mystic Future

Welcome back.

A podcast actually worth a listen:
NASA – Steve Robinson: First Podcaster From Space. Assuming you listened to the first podcast from space, let it sink in for a moment.

God I love this planet, the other planets our species will occupy, and the time in which we live.

A list worth reading:
A list of the names of several of the “early” Mystic has been brought to my attention. For security reasons, the list of those who became part of The Mystic in 2005 cannot be released before the end of the year. [If you're not familiar with the search for The Mystic read the archived articles at alexmcmanus.org.]

This list is all the more remarkable in light of a Barna Group article called Rapid Increase in Alternative Forms of The Church Are Changing the Religious Landscape. According to Barna, not only will the “local church” lose half of it’s market share by 2025, alternate forms of the Christ following movement to which Christ followers will commit are emerging

  • House churches
  • Marketplace Ministries
  • Cyberchurch

    • The Barna article points to ancient [house church and market place ministries] forms to suggest potential new expressions of the future church. In contrast [or perhaps in complement], The Mystic, I understand, is a present-day, future-shaping movement that in the end will both prove and move beyond Barna’s research. Unlike house churches and market place ministries, The Mystic would become, I am told, a native-application to the 21st century of the Christ following movement in a way not expressed by any one of these two forms in and of themselves. Barna also points to a contemporary form as a suggestion of what the future church might look like. Unlike cyber churches, however, The Mystic would fully embody their physicality and use the internet to catalyze human f2f community.

    And now, to have in my possession a list of some of the “early” Mystic is like a miracle. Well, as I look at the list, what can I say? Only that the Mystic are not who you may think. In fact, they may be closer to you than you suspect.

    What do you think?

    into the mystic…

    Alex McManus

    15 comments

    16
    October

    Is Blogging a Revolution?

    Welcome back.

    One hundred thousand blogs are added to the blogosphere per day, according to the home page of the “blogon 2005 Social Media Summit.”

    Yahoo Inc. announced on Monday, the 10th of October, that “it will begin featuring the work of self published bloggers side by side with the work of professional journalists, leveling the distinction between the two.”

    Blogging is beginning to enter the consciousness of mainstream America, but can we be so enthused as to call blogging a revolution? Probably not. While Blogging is not a revolution, it is becoming another tool, a means, towards a greater end — human connection and conversation on a global scale.

    For me, this kind of connectivity and conversation provides another place for telling the greatest of all human stories: how and where the story of Jesus intersects with the story of us. Moreover, the blogosphere also provides an unprecedented opportunity for discovering, developing and deploying leaders to “post threads” [i.e. code for "planting churches"] throughout the western world and beyond.

    While blogging is not the revolution — Jesus is the revolution — blogs can certainly be use by revolutionaries compelled to advance the kingdom. In the same way, though not everyone will blog, blogging is an emerging 21st century tool with potential we musn’t ignore.

    What do you think?

    into the mystic…

    Alex McManus

    23 comments

    26
    September

    Posting Threads: New Language for Church Planting in the 21st Century

    Welcome back.

    This is part two of “The Best of the Mystic.” Some of you know that I began bloggin on Xanga and that the xanga tool does not allow easy exporting of posts. So, I’ve decided to rescue what I consider the “Best of…”

    I consider these three posts to be some of the most important [if not the most important] we’ve had on the mission of the church in the 21st century. This was posted on April 25, 26 and 27 and cumulatively provoked some 65 comments. It is absolutely essential reading for understanding the language of The Mystic. Enjoy.

    April 25

    Brian Russell asks a brilliant question on his blog: Is there a better term than church plant to describe new churches?

    Brian observes that this term “church plant” is “rooted” and “immobile” and asks if there aren’t better images [as opposed to "plants"] that might better convey a sense of motion. I think “spreading a virus” is cool except for the feeling of needing to wash my hands again.

    April 26

    Welcome back.

    niza and a sideways upright

    Came in early this morning from a late night recording session. I always try to post before midnight but the session went over. Here’s where we’re at with the list. Let’s keep it going.

    Dynamic images/metaphors to use in place of the too “rooted” image “church plant”…

    church birth
    spreading a virus
    church lurch
    church spring
    faith infection
    Subversion cell
    Kingdom coming
    Doing life together
    viral infection
    infestation
    plague
    catalyst
    revolution
    church venture
    church seed
    church foundation
    church exploration
    faith outcry
    new body movement
    action faction
    environment
    crash
    crowd
    ignition
    pyromania
    corps (crash of rhinos preparing for service)

    April 27

    Welcome back.

    Our list of images/metaphors to replace “plant” for the task of creating new churches provokes the imagination. A couple of images come to mind. As bloggers and savvy internet users, the first is one we can all relate to: “starting a thread.” [And yes, I'm trying to add "blogger" to your self identity --if you havent' already added it -- because this will have a lot to do with iMosaic. [Note: we're replacing "iMosaic" with something else. Right now "voxtropolis.com" is the leading contender].

    me playing a tibetan singing bowl

    A “thread” is a term used often in online classes and conversations. For example, within the conversation environment of this blog, many of you have started new conversations sparked by the conversation that is already taking place here. These conversations are a kind of thread that weaves in and out of our general conversations. In some of my online classes, students have the tool to add “threads” [a kind of "link" --another interesting image] to the conversations based on questions or interests they have. Others then interact with the question or idea posed by the new thread.

    When a Christ following leader engages a community in a conversation or initiates a new relationship with a nonbeliever, he begins a new thread. These conversations, of course, are guided by the environment created by the spirit of Jesus that heals the world and yet they are also spontaneous and free to develop in their own way.

    Start a new thread today. Have coffee with someone who has not yet believed. Or…Engage a group of nonbelieving friends in a conversation around the scriptures. Or…Ask Christ followers what would need to happen for us to live our lives for someone other than ourselves today.

    Christ following leaders starting new threads. That’s one of the main ways the story of Jesus intersects the story of us.

    Other related images…”link” or “Mblog. How about “host”?

    What do you think?

    into the mystic…

    Alex McManus

    6 comments

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