Category Archives: church

one pollster's take on the church of the future

here is a part of Chuck Warnock’s post on one pollster’s take on the future of the church in the U.S.: “The church of the future will be a bungalow on Maple Street, not a megastructure in a sea of … Continue reading

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what is community?

Ok. the Thirsty Theologian had an interesting link on his page that I followed yesterday evening to discover this post. (by the way, TT has some great posts up top right now about why a literal translation of the Bible … Continue reading

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Think like beginners

Steve is on it again. Go read his block quote from Alan Hirsch and his two concluding questions. Rather than a quick fix or silver bullet, we need silver imaginations. Minds that are transformed and renewed by our willingness to … Continue reading

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Steve figured out the right way to do church

Steve Bradley figured it out. The right way to do church. the whole thing is such an excellent post. here is a bit of it: What if local congregations were seen as the various parts of Christ’s body, and not … Continue reading

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Is it possible?

Is it possible to combine elements that the emerging church is using to connect with the culture, with correct doctrine? are they antithetical? or can they be complimentary and fill the gaps in each other’s approach? Must we choose one … Continue reading

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connecting with the culture

Newbigin in the quotes from my post below says that we, as Christians, should try to understand the culture from the point of view of the Gospel. In other words, we should be countercultural and have a different framework for … Continue reading

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Newbigin in the morning

I have been crashing on Newbigin this morning. Some deep thinking to get my mind going. A bracing shot of metaphorical cold water to the face as a wake up call. I first re-read his 1985 article/presentation “Can the West … Continue reading

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vision

Steve at Vision Navigator has a post up about the Kingdom of Heaven. It is an interesting idea about using imagination and the post has an embedded bearded Australian man video to boot. In the post Steve links to series … Continue reading

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The Call

As believers in Christ, what is our calling? Jesse Phillips is asking a pointed question on the Catablog. here is the issue and the question: Some evangelicals believe it’s our duty to fight for righteousness in our nation, creating laws … Continue reading

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The Big Give

here is an idea that a church of any size can do in its community. We wanted to plan an event that was all about serving our community, so we planned this event where we would give away new backpacks … Continue reading

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transitions

transitioning a conversation to the gospel requires the intention to do so and the opportunity. Joe Thorn has a list of eight topics from which the gospel is an easy leap. There are more in the comments. Here are the … Continue reading

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A fish story

here is a fish story from a book by Wayne McDill called Making friends for Christ: Wayne McDill – Making Friends For Christ p.8 Whatever Became of Evangelism? Now it came to pass that a group existed who called themselves … Continue reading

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Priority Drift

Chuck Warnock has coined a phrase for getting off purpose in life. He calls it priority drift. “Priority drift.” I made that phrase up to describe the state I found myself in a couple of weeks ago. Simply put: my … Continue reading

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getting our children engaged in christian growth

My lovely wife and I have been wondering about/concerned with the question of how to encourage our children to appropriate the Faith for themselves in a vibrant and real way. Julie sent a link out yesterday to some folks as … Continue reading

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Pitiful failure

Here is what David Laubach recently had to say about the state of the church in America at the recent Baptist World Alliance meeting: According to Laubach, 75 percent of churches in the United States are plateaued or declining and … Continue reading

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age segregation

one of the things that has bothered me for some time about the way we do church is age segregation. Breaking up Sunday School or other small group time into age categories seems like a way to pool the collective … Continue reading

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wanting the familiar even if it hurts

Here are two interesting items that I ran across and emailed to a few folks toward the end of June. The first is a series of youtube videos with Adrian Warnock interviewing Ed Stetzer about missional church planting etc that … Continue reading

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change the world?

Brad Abare has an article on Catalyst about why changing the world disturbs him. It is titled, reasonably enough, “Changing the World Disturbs Me”. In the article he makes this statement, “Lately, I’m beginning to think that this inclination for … Continue reading

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what he said II

what he said. I just finished Ed’s book, Planting Missional Churches. Very good indeed. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56J-xb3flJ8&hl=en&fs=1]

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regulative principle of worship

Before yesterday, I had heard of the regulative principle of worship, but I hadn’t paid any attention to it. I knew that Timmy Brister had made it the number one question on the ask Mark Driscoll anything contest, but I … Continue reading

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should I/you be a church planter?

20 questions to ask yourself from Acts 29 via Adrian Warnock

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more on church, since its Sunday

Late last year or early this year (time flies) I read a book called The Unity Factor by Larry Osborne. The book was very good and I recommend it to anyone who is in ministry leadership as a staff or … Continue reading

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what are essential elements of a church?

John MacArthur has a post up about ties that bind; things that local churches must have in common. His list is good and includes: A high view of God The absolute authority of scripture Sound doctrine Personal holiness Spiritual authority … Continue reading

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Culturally Relevant

here are some questions that a friend of mine sent a couple of weeks ago: So, some questions: What does it mean to be culturally relevant?  If you are actively engaged in the culture, how do you distinguish yourself while … Continue reading

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A Mustard Seed Church

Here is John Chandler’s post containing a link to his paper regarding a possible model for a replicating church. I love the idea that Jesus was telling them that the church was like a weed planted in a garden. Luke … Continue reading

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