1. Neo discovers, with amazing force and clarity, that he is being pulled back into the pastorate. Throughout A New Kind of Christian, Neo has been a blessing and a benefit for Dan in his struggles. How has Dan played that same role for Neo?
2. Besides Dan’s influence, what else contributes to Neo’s desire to return to pastoral ministry?
3. What is it about the work of pioneering that makes it so demanding, and as a result, so exhausting? Is pioneering necessarily a solitary task? If so, why? If not, how might communities of people pioneer into this new territory? What qualities would such a community have to possess to go on this journey together?
4. After Dan speaks to a group of young adults, one woman confesses that hearing him speak was a very emotional experience for her: “. . . whenever I get to know individual non-Christians—I mean really get to know them—I am completely convinced that I find God already there and at work in their lives.” Is she right that Christianity doesn’t own God? Compare what she says to Dan with Jesus’ description to Nicodemus of the ministry of the Holy Spirit (John 3:8). Are there any similarities? Have you ever had an experience like that of this young woman?
5. Reread Dan’s description of his two alternatives as he looks to his future and his decision to take a riskier third option (p. 142). Where are you on this journey? Do you have any sense of being called to explore terra nova? How might Dan’s three alternatives be expressed in your life?
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