Bob Lupton, a man who has spent the last 35 years expanding God's kingdom through urban community development, spoke to a group of us tonight. This group was made up mostly of folks that have moved into Binghampton, an at-risk neighborhood in the inner-city of Memphis, to be strategic neighbors. He is a hero of mine in urban ministry, and has lived in and loved the inner-city for decades. When he talks, he speaks as a sage who has learned as much from knocking his head against barriers, as he has learned from success. His words to us tonight were loaded with gems of wisdom. Here are a few:

"The church has lost a theology of impacting neighborhoods."

"We need to have a theology of Shalom."

"We should be redeeming fallen systems AND redeeming fallen souls."

"There's a difference between doing church and doing the Kingdom."

"We should love God and love our NEIGHBOR. Who teaches a course on Neighboring 101?"

"You can't skip over the Great Commandment to get to the Great Commission."

"Have you ever asked yourself, 'What does redemptive engagement with our neighbors look like?'"

technorati tags: missional, missional church, inner-city, urban ministry, community development