Category: Church

God’s People

Brian McLaren’s New Kind of Christian

Link: The Christian Century Magazine.

Every recent book review loves to quote Brian McLaren ‘s definition of his theological leanings as a “missional evangelical post/protestant liberal/conservative mystical/poetic biblical charismatic/contemplative fundamentalist/calvinist anabaptist/anglican methodist catholic green incarnational depressed-yet-hopeful emergent unfinished CHRISTIAN.”  Take a moment to get acquainted with this voice … Brian has a depth of compassion and maturity that reflects his pastoral heart.

"New kind of Christian: Brian McLaren’s Emergent Voice" by Jason Byassee, The Christian Century (November 30, 2004).

Brian McLaren’s two most important books—A New Kind of Christian and the recent A Generous Orthodoxy—both open by raising the specter of an evangelical pastor leaving the ministry or the church altogether. The fictional lead character in New Kind is poised to abandon his ministry until a wise new friend initiates him into the ways of postmodern Christianity, rehabilitating his ministry and life. Orthodoxy reaches out to the disaffected in first-person plural: “So many of us have come close to withdrawing from the Christian community. It’s not because of Jesus and his good news, but because of frustrations with religious politics, dubious theological propositions, difficulties in interpreting passages of the Bible that seem barbaric, or embarrassments from church history.” Something has to change, or those on the ledge may go ahead and jump.

McLaren wants to make space for someone to be “postconservative.” According to the subtitle of A Generous Orthodoxy, he himself is a “missional evangelical post/protestant liberal/conservative mystical/poetic biblical charismatic/contemplative fundamentalist/calvinist anabaptist/anglican methodist catholic green incarnational depressed-yet-hopeful emergent unfinished CHRISTIAN.”

Continue reading “Brian McLaren’s New Kind of Christian” →

Brian McLaren’s New Kind of Christian

Link: The Christian Century Magazine.

Every recent book review loves to quote Brian McLaren ‘s definition of his theological leanings as a “missional evangelical post/protestant liberal/conservative mystical/poetic biblical charismatic/contemplative fundamentalist/calvinist anabaptist/anglican methodist catholic green incarnational depressed-yet-hopeful emergent unfinished CHRISTIAN.”  Take a moment to get acquainted with this voice … Brian has a depth of compassion and maturity that reflects his pastoral heart.

"New kind of Christian: Brian McLaren’s Emergent Voice" by Jason Byassee, The Christian Century (November 30, 2004).

Brian McLaren’s two most important books—A New Kind of Christian and the recent A Generous Orthodoxy—both open by raising the specter of an evangelical pastor leaving the ministry or the church altogether. The fictional lead character in New Kind is poised to abandon his ministry until a wise new friend initiates him into the ways of postmodern Christianity, rehabilitating his ministry and life. Orthodoxy reaches out to the disaffected in first-person plural: “So many of us have come close to withdrawing from the Christian community. It’s not because of Jesus and his good news, but because of frustrations with religious politics, dubious theological propositions, difficulties in interpreting passages of the Bible that seem barbaric, or embarrassments from church history.” Something has to change, or those on the ledge may go ahead and jump.

McLaren wants to make space for someone to be “postconservative.” According to the subtitle of A Generous Orthodoxy, he himself is a “missional evangelical post/protestant liberal/conservative mystical/poetic biblical charismatic/contemplative fundamentalist/calvinist anabaptist/anglican methodist catholic green incarnational depressed-yet-hopeful emergent unfinished CHRISTIAN.”

Continue reading “Brian McLaren’s New Kind of Christian” →

Brian McLaren’s New Kind of Christian

Link: The Christian Century Magazine.

Every recent book review loves to quote Brian McLaren ‘s definition of his theological leanings as a “missional evangelical post/protestant liberal/conservative mystical/poetic biblical charismatic/contemplative fundamentalist/calvinist anabaptist/anglican methodist catholic green incarnational depressed-yet-hopeful emergent unfinished CHRISTIAN.”  Take a moment to get acquainted with this voice … Brian has a depth of compassion and maturity that reflects his pastoral heart.

"New kind of Christian: Brian McLaren’s Emergent Voice" by Jason Byassee, The Christian Century (November 30, 2004).

Brian McLaren’s two most important books—A New Kind of Christian and the recent A Generous Orthodoxy—both open by raising the specter of an evangelical pastor leaving the ministry or the church altogether. The fictional lead character in New Kind is poised to abandon his ministry until a wise new friend initiates him into the ways of postmodern Christianity, rehabilitating his ministry and life. Orthodoxy reaches out to the disaffected in first-person plural: “So many of us have come close to withdrawing from the Christian community. It’s not because of Jesus and his good news, but because of frustrations with religious politics, dubious theological propositions, difficulties in interpreting passages of the Bible that seem barbaric, or embarrassments from church history.” Something has to change, or those on the ledge may go ahead and jump.

McLaren wants to make space for someone to be “postconservative.” According to the subtitle of A Generous Orthodoxy, he himself is a “missional evangelical post/protestant liberal/conservative mystical/poetic biblical charismatic/contemplative fundamentalist/calvinist anabaptist/anglican methodist catholic green incarnational depressed-yet-hopeful emergent unfinished CHRISTIAN.”

Continue reading “Brian McLaren’s New Kind of Christian” →

The Emergent Matrix

Link: The Christian Century Magazine.

I have been paying attention to quiet revolution going on within Western Christianity … especially the next generations (whatever label you want to pin on them).  The buzzwords are numerous, the spritual paths often divergent, and the theology is kind of fun.  Scott Bader-Save explores the terrain here.

“The Emergent matrix: A new kind of church?” by Scott Bader-Saye, The Christian Century (November 30, 2004).

Last spring the Nashville Convention Center played host to both the National Pastors Convention and the Emergent Convention. While the former was largely geared toward evangelical baby boomers, the latter catered to Gen X and Millennial evangelicals ( and “postevangelicals” ) who are trying to come to grips with postmodernity. Though the two conventions intentionally overlapped, that proximity suggests a closer kinship than may actually exist. Indeed, the professed goal of many in the “Emerging Church” is to embody an alternative to the model of the Willow Creek, seeker-driven church that blankets the contemporary evangelical landscape like kudzu on a southern hillside.

At first glance the differences between the two conventions seemed to be primarily stylistic: the Emergent music was hipper, the videos faster, the clothes trendier, the technology more sophisticated. But for many of the Emergent leaders, the convention’s flashiness did more to confuse than to clarify the nature of the emerging church.

Continue reading “The Emergent Matrix” →

The Emergent Matrix

Link: The Christian Century Magazine.

I have been paying attention to quiet revolution going on within Western Christianity … especially the next generations (whatever label you want to pin on them).  The buzzwords are numerous, the spritual paths often divergent, and the theology is kind of fun.  Scott Bader-Save explores the terrain here.

“The Emergent matrix: A new kind of church?” by Scott Bader-Saye, The Christian Century (November 30, 2004).

Last spring the Nashville Convention Center played host to both the National Pastors Convention and the Emergent Convention. While the former was largely geared toward evangelical baby boomers, the latter catered to Gen X and Millennial evangelicals ( and “postevangelicals” ) who are trying to come to grips with postmodernity. Though the two conventions intentionally overlapped, that proximity suggests a closer kinship than may actually exist. Indeed, the professed goal of many in the “Emerging Church” is to embody an alternative to the model of the Willow Creek, seeker-driven church that blankets the contemporary evangelical landscape like kudzu on a southern hillside.

At first glance the differences between the two conventions seemed to be primarily stylistic: the Emergent music was hipper, the videos faster, the clothes trendier, the technology more sophisticated. But for many of the Emergent leaders, the convention’s flashiness did more to confuse than to clarify the nature of the emerging church.

Continue reading “The Emergent Matrix” →

The Emergent Matrix

Link: The Christian Century Magazine.

I have been paying attention to quiet revolution going on within Western Christianity … especially the next generations (whatever label you want to pin on them).  The buzzwords are numerous, the spritual paths often divergent, and the theology is kind of fun.  Scott Bader-Save explores the terrain here.

“The Emergent matrix: A new kind of church?” by Scott Bader-Saye, The Christian Century (November 30, 2004).

Last spring the Nashville Convention Center played host to both the National Pastors Convention and the Emergent Convention. While the former was largely geared toward evangelical baby boomers, the latter catered to Gen X and Millennial evangelicals ( and “postevangelicals” ) who are trying to come to grips with postmodernity. Though the two conventions intentionally overlapped, that proximity suggests a closer kinship than may actually exist. Indeed, the professed goal of many in the “Emerging Church” is to embody an alternative to the model of the Willow Creek, seeker-driven church that blankets the contemporary evangelical landscape like kudzu on a southern hillside.

At first glance the differences between the two conventions seemed to be primarily stylistic: the Emergent music was hipper, the videos faster, the clothes trendier, the technology more sophisticated. But for many of the Emergent leaders, the convention’s flashiness did more to confuse than to clarify the nature of the emerging church.

Continue reading “The Emergent Matrix” →

Rick Warren on Matching Music to Your Target

"Match the Music to the People You Want to Reach" by Rick Warren
Three thoughts about music in worship

I'm often asked what I would do differently if I could start Saddleback over. My answer is this: From the first day of the new church, I’d put more energy and money into insuring a first-class music ministry that
matched our target audience.

In the first years of Saddleback, I made the mistake of underestimating the power of music. Because we didn’t have a lot of talented musicians, we minimized the use of music in our services. I regret that now.

Music is powerful

Music is an integral part of our lives. We eat with it, drive with it, shop with it, relax with it, and some non-Baptists even dance to it!
A song often can touch people in a way that a sermon can’t. Music can bypass intellectual barriers and take the message straight to the heart.

It is a potent tool for evangelism.
In Psalm 40:3 (NCV) David says, “He put a NEW song in my mouth. … Many people will see this and worship him. Then they will trust the Lord.”  Notice the clear connection between music and evangelism: “Then they will trust the Lord.”

Music is a force that cannot be ignored. The rock lyrics of the 1960s and 1970s shaped the values of most Americans who are now in the 30 to 50 age bracket. Today, MTV shapes the values of most people in their 20s.  Music is the primary communicator of values to the younger generation.  If we don't use contemporary music to spread godly values, Satan will have an unchallenged access to an entire generation.

Continue reading “Rick Warren on Matching Music to Your Target” →

Dan Reiland on Ministry in the Past, Present, and Future

Ministry: Past, Present, Future By Dan Reiland

Blaise Pascal.  A unusual name to start the first article of 2005, but one of Pascal's writings stirred some thoughts during a morning devotional time last week. 

Pascal was born in 1623 in France.  He was famous as a scientist and a brilliant mathematician.  Today his scientific work is largely forgotten, except for a few of his more famous ideas, such as "Pascal's Triangle."   Pascal's theological writings, however, have sustained strongly with substantial impact over the centuries.  Even though he was a Catholic, Protestants have warmly embraced his reflections, particularly after John Wesley commended his essay on conversion.

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Rick Warren on Evangelism

How much does evangelism cost? by Rick Warren

I believe one of the reasons so few churches engage in outreach is because they ask the wrong question. Too often, the first question asked is, “How much will it cost?” The right question is, “Who will it reach?”  How much is a soul worth? If you spend $500 on a newspaper ad that reaches one unbeliever for Christ, is it worth it?

If
your church gets serious about developing a comprehensive evangelism
strategy, it will cost money! With this in mind, let me share some
insights about financing your strategy, based upon my experiences as
Saddleback grew from four members to over 20,000.

Continue reading “Rick Warren on Evangelism” →

Good to Great

Link: Fast Company | Good to Great.

Jim Collins, "Good to Great," Fast Company, 51 (October 2001) p. 90.  Illustations by Greg Clarke.

Start with 1,435 good companies. Examine their performance over 40 years. Find the 11 companies that became great. Now, here’s how you can do it too.

I want to give you a lobotomy about change. I want you to forget everything you’ve ever learned about what it takes to create great results. I want you to realize that nearly all operating prescriptions for creating large-scale corporate change are nothing but myths.

Continue reading “Good to Great” →