Still reading through Missional Communities by McNeal, further thoughts: There is a bewilderment about how the church invests. The N. American church spends $100 billion annually with low returns on investment. A missiologist once shared with me that the N. American church spends $1.2 million per baptism. McNeal defends the reality that a congregational churchContinue reading “Missional Communities by Reggie McNeal: Day 2”
Category Archives: Books
Missional Communities by Reggie McNeal: Day 1
Reading McNeal’s Missional Communities for dissertation research and ministry development. Here are some of my take-aways from the book: Problem/Opportunity- The North American world craves a church experience that transcends the typical congregation model. McNeal provides a short history of how he thinks the church went from an organic movement to an institution, “Rather thanContinue reading “Missional Communities by Reggie McNeal: Day 1”
Len Sweet’s Titanium Rule
Researching today and want to condense some of Sweet’s Titanium Rule before moving on. No elaboration, just recording: Iron Rule: Do unto others before they do it to you. Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. (The rule puts “you” as primary) Platinum Rule: Do unto others as othersContinue reading “Len Sweet’s Titanium Rule”
Metaphors for Christian Formation
St. Francis of Assisi once said, “True progress quietly and persistently moves along without notice.” I’m discovering this idea to be helpful as I investigate my own journey of Christian formation. Much of the discussion of orchestrating Christian formation in the local church in N. American seems to be adapted from cultural expectations. Some speakContinue reading “Metaphors for Christian Formation”
Believing, Behaving, Belonging
For my dissertation, I’m working through Diana Butler Bass’s Christianity After Religion. She is investigating the idea of the North American culture seeking to be “spiritual” without being “religious.” One of the things she brings to the table that I’ve thought about since reading is the idea of “believing, behaving, and belonging.” These are theContinue reading “Believing, Behaving, Belonging”
Peter Rollins Quotation of love
“In a very precise sense, then, love’s presence cannot be described as existing, but rather is that which calls others into existence; for to exist literally means to stand forth from the background, to be brought forth. As we have mentioned, love does not stand forth and vie for our attention but rather brings othersContinue reading “Peter Rollins Quotation of love”
Appear with Him in Glory
On my plane rides to Cannon Beach, OR, I picked up John Ortberg’s The Me I Want to Be. It is a great book, so much to take in as assistance to transformation and discipleship. Ortberg is a master of rich thoughts and illustrations. Many of his books have been meaningful to so many. In oneContinue reading “Appear with Him in Glory”
Sacrament
In 2002 Robert Webber wrote a book called The Younger Evangelicals, giving a collection of observations for what the Evangelical movement was evolving towards. Webber was a great source and a careful writer. Many important things in the book; I hope to share some on the blog at some point. I 20-post series could beContinue reading “Sacrament”
Consumer Liturgies
I recently read a book called Church in the Present Tense. It is a book with 4 different contributors, all giving an academic response to Emerging Church. Every chapter was fantastic; I’d love to follow those guys around to hear them lecture. Jason Clark had to say some beneficial things concerning Consumerism and how ministryContinue reading “Consumer Liturgies”
2 Perspectives of Church, backwards and forwards
I am working on some content from Stanley Grenz from his Revisioning Evangelical Theology. I find the content to be a challenge and a good discussion. He wrote this text in 1993, but the discussion is completely appropriate for today. The shape of what exactly is “Evangelicalism” is being discussed today. Many years from now,Continue reading “2 Perspectives of Church, backwards and forwards”
Joe Skillen 