Archive for March, 2009
iPhone Blogging
Posted by Todd Engstrom in personal on March 30, 2009
Total Church, Gospel Ministry and Adoption | ABBA Fund Blog
Posted by Todd Engstrom in adoption, missions on March 27, 2009
Jason Kovacs had some great thoughts on doing ordinary things with gospel intentionality. Below is a quote:
It is interesting that the act of adopting, doing foster care, or going overseas to care for orphans is often seen as a “great act of service” involving great sacrifice. I think in light of this quote and in light of God’s heart and the Gospel that these acts for the church ought to be seen as “ordinary things.” God has called us and commanded us to care for orphans. Our obedience to this surely ought to be the “ordinary activity” of our lives as His people. Now, if you want to argue that caring for orphans really is “great” then it is not not because they involve great sacrifice but because they are great manifestations of a great Gospel and there is great joy involved in living this way. If that is what we mean by “great” then I will accept that; but other than that, I would love to see adoption and foster care as something done by “ordinary people doing ordinary things with gospel intentionality.”
Systems Story | The Forgotten Ways
Posted by Todd Engstrom in missional on March 26, 2009
I love Alan Hirsch. He thinks differently and deeply, and reads widely:
He goes on to note that every organization is built upon on what he calls “an underlying systems story.” He points out that “…this is not a belief system. It is the continually repeated life story that determines how an organization thinks and thus acts. This systems story determines the way an organization behaves, no matter how the organizational chart is drawn. Restructure the organization and leave the systems story in place and nothing changes within the organization. It’s futile trying to revitalize the church, or a denomination, without first changing the system.” Drilling down into this systems story, the paradigm, or mode of church, is he suggests one of the keys to change and constant innovation.
Makes me consider what is my fundamental systems story that dictates behavior…
Parachurch and Church | Moore to the Point
Posted by Todd Engstrom in church, college ministry on March 25, 2009
This is an interesting insight from Russell Moore about campus ministries and the necessity of connecting with a local church. I would probably take a less hard line approach than he does and value a less “formal” expression of church, as well as argue that a church needs to adapt to its cultural context to effectively minister. In spite of my subtle disgreements, I do believe the article does a good job of capturing the importance of the local church within the climate of many campus ministries.
The reason many college students identify primarily with a campus ministry rather than with a church is not because of any flaw in most campus ministry organizations. It is because, too often, we evangelical Christians have a deficient view of the church. We assume that it is any gathering of people who believe in Jesus and who do churchly things. Many Christians assume the church exists simply to help us learn more about Christ and pool our resources for missions. If that’s the case, a campus ministry can do all those things, and more. But the Scriptures tell us the church is much more than that.
via Jesus Didn’t Die for a Campus Ministry: The Spiritual Danger of Unchurched Spirituality.
Steven Bush Photography and ABBA Fund
Posted by Todd Engstrom in christianity on March 21, 2009
Steven Bush (aka Bush) has produced a print with 100% of the proceeds going to the ABBA Fund. I highly recommend you support both Bush and the ABBA Fund, so take a look:




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