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...
Saturday, June 21, 2008
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...