Why Church Doesn't Feel Like Family
Mark Driscoll address a pressing issue in the Church. And has a response for those waiting to be served by the Church.
God's Church – Are we bringing rubber and road together…
What is the role of God’s church when confronted with the real suffering of a fellow Christian? Relieve that suffering? Don’t answer too quickly… What if that suffering is for a reason? Let’s suppose God is teaching and growing that Christian through the suffering. But how are we to judge that and keep from interfering with His plan? Should we even attempt to? But I don’t recall the Lord saying anything about withholding aid from others in the church. Am I missing something? This is a very real and troubling question in my mind, right now, dealing with a very real and troubling situation… RIGHT NOW. This Christian is in a destructive housing situation and has no way out on their own. It appears to be heavily...
On Megachurches and Evangelical Culture
To Rod Dreher, in response to his recent blog post about American Evangelical culture: As a member of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, I guess I would be considered an Evangelical. I’m not really sure what that word means anymore, since it’s been tossed around so many times. But your latest blog entry made me think about where the American Evangelical culture is going. Since I’m no theological expert, I don’t know how exactly to address the issues you present in your post. But perhaps my own story can shed a little light on the matter. Now I must warn you that I’m not an expert on either the Lutheran Church or Evangelical culture. These are just my observations as a regular guy trying to find his place within the Body of Christ. Before I became...
Borne by God
In light of the recent and ongoing sufferings my family is enduring, Pastor Alan asked me to give a testimony about our Lord’s faithfulness during this time at the Sunday evening meeting. Here is something of a revised version. A man’s steps are from the LORD; how then can man understand his way? P R O V E R B S 20:24 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand. P R O V E R B S 19:21 They say hindsight is 20/20; apparently I need LASIK surgery! While things are certainly clearer looking back upon them rather than in the midst of them, none of us can fully discern the Lord’s providential outworking of his purposes for us. The Lord has, however, given to us “all things that pertain to life and godliness,...
“You suck.” “No you suck”
Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Proverbs 9:8 So parenting again has laid a golden egg. The most ironic thing that I have found in life is that while I am trying to teach my kids things, I am finding that I really need to learn them myself. There have been several really good personal things, but the biggest thing right now is getting him to listen to correction. The hilarious thing about teaching my son this is that I need to learn this FAR more than he does. The typical reaction that I have to a well placed rebuke or correction whether it comes from my wife, a friend or a direct stranger is to be defensive and often point out the flaws in their character. Conversations like this, especially among Christian men,...
How Communities of Performance Impede Mission
Cool Find from here and in an email I received. How Communities of Performance Impede Mission Tim Chester Communities of Performance People talk about grace, but communicate legalism Unbelievers can’t imagine themselves as Christians Drive away broken people The world is seen as threatening and ‘other’ Conversion is superficial—people are called to respectable behavior People are secretly hurting People see faith and repentance as actions that took place at conversion The gospel is for unbelievers Communities of Grace People can see grace in action Unbelievers feel like they can belong Attract broken people People are loved as fellow sinners in need of grace Conversion is radical—people are called to transformed affections People are...