Category: church
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The Holy Spirit and the American Church
Just read thought provoking post at Church Planting Novice discussing history of the early church and the comparative deficiency in the American church of demonstrations of the power of the Holy Spirit. Give it a read and see what I had to say in response.
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unChristian 5
Chapter 5 is title “Anti-homosexual”, and the thesis of the chapter is that Christians must become known more for there love of individuals regardless of sexual brokenness, rather that against the sin itself. I understand the basic premise, and agree with the conclusions, yet the latter half of the chapter is subtitled “A Biblical Response”…
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Mission as organizing principle from The Forgotten Ways
This blog articulates well the idea of mission as central to small group and church sustainability. I consistently wrestle with the concept of assimilation into mission rather than ministry, and the most effective means to accomplish this end. I’m not sure I’m ready to abandon wholesale assimilation to ministry as a pathway to mission as…
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Cultural Mandate and Renewal
I enjoyed these challenging thoughts from the 9Marks blog on the Cultural Mandate specifically as they pertain to the Christian’s and the Church’s engagement in culture making/redemption. As a result of The Austin Stone’s Fall 2008 Vision Series, I have been wrestling a lot with these concepts, and have enjoyed learning a variety of different…
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Great Vision Creates Liminality
I enjoyed reading these thoughts from Alan Hirsch on the power of future vision to shape the present. Using his language, a bold future vision contributes to liminality, or an out of balance state, which in turn creates a response of individuals and communities toward missional engagement. This post is worth a read (and his…
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unChristian 2
Chapter 2 presents some of the research findings about the perceptions of outsiders toward believers (the terms “evangelicals” and “born again Christians” are used), and breaks down the rest of the book on the lines of six general themes: hypocritical, too concerned with converts, antihomosexual, sheltered, too political, and judgmental. “The primary reason outsiders feel…
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unChristian 1
Just started reading through the book unChristian by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons in anticipation of the Q conference here in Austin in April. Here are my thoughts from Chapter 1: “We are not responsible for outsiders’ decisions, but we are accountable when our actions and attitudes–misrepresenting a holy, just and loving God–have pushed outsiders…
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Working Together
Some campus ministers have been working toward a unified strategy in reaching UT’s campus. Collaborative work amongst college ministries tends toward the abstract and non-committal variety, but God has been stirring to move the various directors toward strategic and functional engagement. As we seek to redeem and restore the University of Texas with the Gospel…