Being invited in to train the leadership of another denomination is not a privilege I take lightly-- but I am especially blessed to find friends who share a common passion for churches that engage culture in biblically faithful ways.

I felt that kinship with Bob Newton (my fellow speaker) and Mike Ruhl (the conference organizer).

I was very impressed with the passion, intellect, and spirit of Bishop Bob. (The Missouri Synod Lutherans don't typically use the term bishop, although it is accurate to do so-- and quite fun, might I add.)

We talked on several occasions about the orgin of the missio dei terminology and how it has morphed over the years.

We also shared some good natured ribbing about our denominational distinctives. We both would have some clear and dear theological distinctives that would keep us in seperate denominations-- even though we are both passionate about reaching the world for Christ.

Finally, my friend Dave Olson helped me to see why I don't know many Lutherans (see my original post here). You can find out more at Dave's American Church Research Project.

My Lutheran friends rebuked me yesterday.

I promised them a blog post on "The Baptist and the Bishop," based on my conversation with Robert Newton and some good natured ribbing about our different denominations.

But I am a little behind... this blogging thing is more work than I imagined.

I promise I will write that post on the plane home today.

According to the folks here at the conference, Newton is the LCMS thought leader on the missional church. (I interviewed him as part of my research on the missional church.)

Newton emphasized that the Great Commission is the most important, not one of the important, parts of the missional church focus.

See his course on the missio dei here... good stuff.

More soon... but I love talking mission, missional, and missiology with missiologists...