WELCOME TO MISSIONAL USA
July 8th The Road Trip Begins!
Just in case you’ve found this blog by accident, you may find it helpful to know what this blog is all about and how it came to be.
Some years ago I stumbled across my first audio book, Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon. Blue Highways is a description of LHM’s travels across America on blue highways (small state and county roads) in search of himself and America--a classic road story which captivated me so much that I told Sandy, my wife, someday I wanted us to take such a trip. So when the opportunity to take my own blue highways trip presented itself through a program called SPE (Sustaining Pastoral Excellence) by virtue of a Lilly Foundation grant, which was part of the program, I was all over it.
Now my blue highways trip will not be exactly like LHM's. I’m not trying to find myself or America. Instead I’m attempting to discover what’s going on in the area of discipleship in some of America’s most innovative and missional churches. My goal is to hear from leading edge pastors, not necessarily senior pastors, about what’s working in making authentic disciples—Christians hot after God or, as I like to say, passionately devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
Our road trip begins July 8th. As Sandy and I make our way across the USA (old school folks will remember a Chevrolet jingle), we’ll be reporting on encounters, detours, and conversations, along the way. Most importantly, we hope you will join us in conversation about what it means to be a missional disciple. Also, we’ll introduce you to Einstein and Charlotte, our two traveling companions.