Matt Smay

Here’s a preview of the new book cover.  More information coming soon as it’s set to release at Exponential in late April.

The past two weeks have been busy – we kicked off a new MCAP cohort and have been traveling a bunch, which for me included stops in San Francisco, Orange County, and Phoenix. It seems I don’t go more than a day without having an incredible conversation or exchanging an email with a leader that is applying missional/incarnational principles in an existing church or church plant, but is looking to connect with others that are doing the same.

Since the book describes our journey in Denver, it has created a natural opportunity to be an encouragement to leaders that have been on a parallel course and are resonating with our story. One of the most common questions that continues to come up is, “Have you heard of anyone else that is doing…?” Which is followed by a description of their unique ministry context and the challenges they face. Fortunately, I’m meeting more and more leaders with stories of success that I’m able to pass along. These stories include mega churches in Southern California and Arizona that are moving people into mission and community, church plants from coast-to-coast that are making it past the first two years and seeing incarnational communities form around their mission, and church leaders that are making significant changes in order to move their congregation out of an attractional paradigm. So, if you’re one of those leaders that feels “out there, all alone, or under renovation,” whether it’s in the board room or on the streets in a new city, I can honestly say there are more of us out there than you may realize.

By The Way – The common threads I’m finding among those that are experiencing success are a determination and commitment to the vision, coupled with a plan for developing leaders while creating a structure that provides some sustainability.

Have you ever had a caffeine withdrawal headache? Well, this week I was sick with a nasty stomach bug that made the thought of food and most drink repugnant for several days – including my daily staple of coffee and americano’s. (In order to understand the context of this post, I should fess up that I currently average about a pot of coffee per day.) So, after two days of being sick, I wasn’t sure which was worse, the body aches or the massive caffeine withdrawal headaches.

It’s now been four days off coffee (caffeine) and I’m realizing how integrated it has become in my daily routine. So, here’s the dilemma – I really love coffee, but I’m stuck with the realization that caffeine may be playing too big a role in my daily life, and worse yet, I’m wondering how I Corinthians 6:12 might apply,

“Everything is permissible for me”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me”—but I will not be mastered by anything.”

Hadn’t really thought of this verse in regards to caffeine, and I’m not sure where I’ll land. Perhaps I just need to make a fast of caffeine to break the hold, or cut back to a few cups a day. Either way, I dislike the feeling of being mastered by anything and it’s definitely not beneficial at this level…

By The Way – if you ever need to do some quick Bible research online (like I did tonight) www.bible.org is pretty helpful, especially the Bible and site search in the top right.