>View EditI’ve always enjoyed starting something new. Whether it’s a book or a garden or a vacation, the beginning is my favorite part. That’s when things are still fresh and exciting, where anticipation runs high and all your expectations are still reasonable. Beginning something is always easier than seeing it through to the end.Posted by Doug Walker on December 31st, 2008Therefore, since we...
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Saturday, December 6, 2008
This is really challenging...
This is an interesting video taken while kids 9-16 play violent video games. It's worth the look and the consideration of the effect that violence in the digital realm actually has. [vodpod id=ExternalVideo.757681&w=425&h=350&fv=videoId%3D2604215001%26playerId%3D1348426473%26viewerSecureGatewayURL%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fconsole.brightcove.com%2Fservices%2Famfgateway%26servicesURL%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fservices.brightcove.com%2Fservices%26cdnURL%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fadmin.brightcove.com%26domain%3Dembed%26autoStart%3Dfalse%26]more...
Friday, November 7, 2008
A Response to the Election in the Words of a Teaching Elder
Below is a letter that was sent to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church by Pastor Rufus Smith of City of Refuge Church in Houston, TX. It is moving. It is poignant. It is something that we need hear and consider. November 6, 2008To: My Fellow Followers of “That Way”From: Rufus Smith, Pastor, City of Refuge Church (Houston, TX)As Chairman of the EPC’s Urban Ministry Network and the...
Monday, October 20, 2008
The Blue Parakeet - A Review
First, Dr. McKnight and Zondervan thank you for the advance copy.--The Blue Parakeet is a text that discusses how we actually read the Bible. Dr. McKnight brings up two key ideas throughout his short work. His first organizing principle is the concept that the Bible was written in a certain period's time and ways. The second is that we are to read the Bible alongside of tradition as opposed to through...
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
>It's A Brand New Day
>As much as I like the idea of a clean slate, I know it can't be that way. We are who we are in part because of the trials, mistakes and blunders we've committed and endured.Posted by Doug Walker on October 15th, 2008I have a friend who always signs off on his emails with the phrase, "It's a brand...
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Where Are You From?
The Hansen Report: Where Are You From? | Out of Ur | Conversations for Ministry Leaders.This article is quality. I think that the ramifications are huge for a congregation like the one that I am a part of. We live in a suburban setting and there are tons of church choices.This reality makes implementing change very difficult. The reason for this is that instead engaging with the...
Mark Driscoll: 18 ‘obstacles to effective evangelism’
insight - Driscoll: 18 ‘obstacles to effective evangelism’. This article got me thinking about so many things. Some of it isn't applicable in my situation becuase I am not in Australia and the last time the British influenced our country they were getting hineys kicked in the War of 1812 (or we were bailing them out because the Germans were kicking their cans).All kidding aside, the article has some...
Friday, September 5, 2008
In honor of two weeks of political rhetoric...
Thanks Derek...A Savior on Capitol Hill | [derekwebb.net]I’m so tired of these mortal menwith their hands on their wallets and their hearts full of sinscared of their enemies, scared of their friendsand always running for re-electionso come to DC if it be thy willbecause we’ve never had a savior on Capitol Hillyou can always trust the devil or a politicianto be the devil or a politicianbut beyond...
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
UnLearning Church
This book looks like one I want to get a hold of. The excerpt is pretty good stuff. I wonder, what would it mean to UnLearn church for my local congregation? Hmmm....I need to ponder this....UnLearn Chu...
Sunday, August 24, 2008
>We've moved!
>The Graceworks blog has moved to the Grace Chapel website. Go to www.graceepc.org to read new blog entries, download podcasts of the Sunday messages, and to find out what's happening at Grace Chapel. Join us for our fall kick off barbeque Wednesday, August 27 at 5:30pm.Everyone is welco...
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Blue Parakeet...
The next grand installment is coming to Church Remix. Zondervan was offering about 100 free copies of Scot McKnight's new book, Blue Parakeet, to bloggers. I am excited to announce that my copy is on its way and as soon as it does the posts will be rolling in.I am also thinking that I will be posting thoughts, random or otherwise, from my Older Testament class this semester. I think that there...
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
>This One's for the Ladies
>Every word I believed intill I felt it in my own heartin the deepest partthe healing came -Sara GrovesPosted by Robin Schmidt on August 20th, 2008 There are women in our lives that intimidate us. We are awed by their beauty or their gifts or their strength or their popularity and we pull back. We are afraid to approach. We are afraid of rejection. "She doesn't want to talk to me," we think.Last...
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Communion...now this is good...
My son and I were worshipping together on Sunday and being the first Sunday of the month we partook in Communion. As the elements came to us, he smiled at me and we had the following conversation:Ethan: Do I get some of that?Me: No son. We need to make sure that you truly follow Jesus by faith and that you believe that he is your Lord and that he has forgiven you.Ethan: I do Dad.Me: Well,...
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
We built it, but they don't come, what's up with that?
I read this article tonight and it blew my mind. I think it's precise, well said, and poigna...
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Baptism 2 - It's importance now...
Today's culture is adrfit. There is no longer an oppressive meta-narrative keeping everyone in check. Everything changes, and everything changes fast. If you have to wait more than a couple of minutes for your fast food you get upset. If the lines at the self-checkout are long you can't understand why they don't have more. People change their relationships almost as often as they...
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Baptism 1
I am on vacation in beautiful North Myrtle Beach, SC. Today is the last day. We leave tonight for Louisville and then on to Evansville. I will miss the beach!!I have begun emailing with a close friend about Baptism. So, I thought I would begin my thoughts here. This first post is rough and raw. It's the baseline argument for infant baptism. It's not as nuanced as...
Sunday, July 20, 2008
>There Are No God Forsaken Places
>The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. Mark 14:7Posted by Doug Walker on July 20th, 2008The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want.Mark 14:7The scene was a dinner party, and Jesus was the guest of honor. Everyone was...
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Why are people so mean?
So, I was reading some blogs recently, alot of them, about the missional church. I have been surprised by how mean people are, especially those who claim to be gracious, open-minded, post-moderns. It came to a head with the debacle between Obama and Dobson. The anger and dare I say hatred expressed by many toward both men (in missional circles predominantly at Dobson, in attractional circles...
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Communion 2...
My friend Tim challenged me to go deeper with this. So, I have been thinking about it for the last few days and meditating some more about why Communion is so significant right now in our time and place.I keep going back to mystery and transcendence. So much of our world today is "real" there is no imagination. There is no mystery. Our movies leave nothing to the imagination...
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Communion...I think it's a big deal...
As I begin to write this I am feeling a bit like I am walking on sacred ground. In the Protestant tradition we only have two sacraments: communion and baptism. I have been thinking a great deal about the role of both. As I mentioned before communion is on the top of my mind because I just finished reading a book about it by Robert Letham. It was fantastic!First, what I am not going to...
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Some of what I am reading...
As I was catching up with my blog reading today in my quiet home, I thought, "It would be cool to link the blog to the stuff I am reading." So, here it is: Stuff I am Read...
Phase two...
So, I have been writing a bit about the big picture of what missional is and exploring some things here and asking questions. Most of these questions I don't have answers for, it's a bit frustrating for a guy who usually has answers for EVERYTHING!It's hard to be in a place where you feel like everything...
Friday, June 13, 2008
Who leads this whole thing?
The one questiont that I have been wrestling with in conversation with a friend and as a result of reading The Forgotten Ways is the issue of authority. What does it mean? Who is in authority? Is there leadership anymore? What does it all look like in reality, right here, right now? Are we all to do what is right by our own personal hermeneutic? Are we simply to do what feels good? ...
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Stepping out...
So, I have begun thinking about "programming" in the church. It's something that I have been wrestling with for a while and my thoughts are beginning to clarify a bit more. I studied some pretty large chunks of Acts this winter and spring. Something that really hit me was how "out there" the first and second generation Christians were (Paul is a second generation, let that one sink...
>Living on a Need to Know basis
>submitted by Robin SchmidtIt is the information age. We can find out pretty much anything through books, television, or the world wide web.We value knowledge and pursue it. We have game shows where people compete to see who possesses greater knowledge. Remember Ken from Jeopardy? He seemed to know EVERYTHING. We believe knowledge is power. If we know then we are in control. My father-in-law...
Monday, June 9, 2008
Applying the paradigm...maybe?
Here is something I put together about applying the missional concept to the role of "Youth Pastor". What do you think?IntroductionThere has been a fundamental change in the way the world works over the last twenty-five years. The shift has been called “post-modernism” or “hyper-modernity” or “post-Christian” or “post-Christendom”. Regardless of what one calls the paradigm change, the...
Thursday, June 5, 2008
The Forgotten Ways, Part 8
It's hard to imagine a few weeks ago when I sat down with my friend Doug at the Bean and he encouraged me to read Allelon.org's blogs about the missional church that it would have led to a month of thinking more deeply about what it means to be the church. The next day I walked into the library at Michigan Theological Seminary and grabbed a little book called The Forgotten Ways. This is...
The Forgotten Ways, Part 7
As I sit here at home I have just finished the book! So we are on the home stretch with only a couple of posts on The Forgotten Ways remain. This chapter was one that I was not particularly looking forward to. As a result it took a while to chew through it. However, it turns out that "Organic Systems" are actually pretty cool things! Who knew?I think that the best way to understand...
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
The Forgotten Ways, Part 6
If the church is going to become this embodiment of Jesus in a communal way then there is a foundational issue that must be dealt with. That is our conception of what it means to lead. How do we lead if we have set aside the corporate and the coercive models of power?Hirsch argues that there is a change in the leadership environment of the church. This means that there must be an embracing of what...
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
The Forgotten Ways, Part 5
Part five is upon us! The Missional Incarnational Impulse. What the heck does that mean? This is another chapter where Hirsch makes it pretty clear that he must define his term in the negative, what I mean is that, a positive declaration of "missional-incarnational impulse" is difficult in and of itself to define, therefore, you have to state what it is not to bring clarity to what it is!Missional-incarnational...
Thursday, May 29, 2008
The Forgotten Ways, Part 4
The Heart of It All - Jesus is Lord. So, now what? The first main principle that Hirsch lays out is that of disciple making. The development of disciples has taken on a new cool twist recently with all the emphasis on the Jewish life and what a Rabbi really is and therefore what it means to be a disciple. Hirsch steps in a provides a clear, succinct, and challenging picture of what discipleship...
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
The Forgotten Ways, Part 3
Hirsch gets going into the "heart of it all" in chapter 3. This chapter lays out the necessity for Jesus to be Lord. This is the center of mDNA, oh, wait, I am ahead of myself. What is mDNA? This is the organic coding for Apostolic Genius. What is Apostolic Genius?Well, it's the results of mDNA.Enough playing around. mDNA is comprised of the five key principles along with the driving story that...