Todd Engstrom

Author: Todd Engstrom

  • Top 5 Posts for March

    For the month of March, these are the most visited posts here: A Philosophical Reason for Missional Communities A Theological Reason for Missional Communities What is a Missional Community? – Other Definitions What is a Missional Community? – Definition A Pragmatic Reason for Missional Communities My favorite to write was Consumerism and Community. Let me…

  • Missional Community Practices – The Family Meal

    If obedience means acting like a family, the question is what families actually do, and families share life around a meal. So we asked leaders to host a meal rather than prepare a lesson, which frees anyone to join, including someone who does not know Jesus.

  • Missional Community Practices – Different Kinds of Gatherings

    We build different kinds of gatherings because the aim is obedience rather than information transfer. Practices without the gospel underneath them produce self-righteousness or self-loathing, so this post answers how rather than why.

  • Missional Community Practices

    Missional communities at The Austin Stone gather three ways: as a family over a meal, as disciples in a Life Transformation Group, and as missionaries in a third place. Here is the overview, with a story of one community living all three.

  • It’s a…

    BOY!!! It’s my great joy to introduce to you Owen Ryan Engstrom! He is 7 lbs, 1 oz, and 19.75 inches long, and completely healthy! We are praising God and rejoicing in His goodness to us! Join us in praising God! Psalm 96:6-86 Splendor and majesty are before him;strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.7…

  • What is a Missional Community? – More Than a Bible Study

    A missional community is not just a bible study, a fellowship group, a social action club, a support group, or a weekly meeting. Over time it includes all of those things, but underneath it is a family of missionaries learning to follow Jesus in every area of life. That usually asks more of people than…

  • Four Kids – Jim Gaffigan

    As we prepare for the arrival for baby #4 tomorrow, we’ve been doing plenty of work.  We’ve also been asking friends with four kids about what to expect, and we received a ton of wisdom. I’m thankful for friends, but I think Jim Gaffigan provides the best insight in the video below: Tomorrow begins a…

  • What is a Missional Community? – Pocket of People

    A pocket of people answers who the community exists for. A neighbor is anyone you cannot avoid, or anyone whose needs you have the resources to meet, which may be the people next door, the people you work with, or someone God has placed squarely in your path for no reason you chose. A missional…

  • What is a Missional Community? – On Mission with God

    On mission with God means participating in what God has always been doing, establishing his kingdom and making disciples. That works out two ways in every community. We demonstrate the gospel tangibly by meeting the real needs of our neighbors, and we declare it creatively by learning their stories well enough to tell the gospel…

  • Interview on Discipleship with Eric Geiger

    My friend Eric Geiger interviewed me on his blog on the topic of discipleship recently.  Below is an excerpt: Discipleship is meeting someone where they are, and taking them where Jesus wants them to go. This definition has served for me as a fundamental axiom in discipleship, in leadership development, and in organizational leadership. The…

  • What is a Missional Community? – Definition

    Over the next two weeks, I’ll be unpacking how we define missional communities at The Austin Stone.  See the previous posts here: Part 1 – Other’s Definitions of Missional Community Part 2 – A Vision for Missional Community —– Our vision sets the stage for us to talk more about a missional community. We are often…

  • What is a Missional Community? – Vision

    Over the next two weeks, I’ll be unpacking how we define missional communities at The Austin Stone. —– Like many churches, The Austin Stone has a very clear vision of what we believe God has called us to.  We phrase our vision this way: To be a New Testament church existing for the supremacy of…