- Live Blog: Churchy folk on Missional Imagination Presenters: Dave Ferguson New Thing Network www.newthing.org Mark Batterson National Community Church www.theaterchurch.com Creating a culture in a congregation that challenges people, inspires them, and encourages normal people to carry out their ideas. Missonal Imagination: Remembers sitting in a room with lots of pastors with a large amount of influence. Many who might be deemed […]
- Thou Shalt Not Covet. Fuller sent this nice coupon to me in the mail upon my seminary graduation. Please contain your jealousies.
- I’ve Lately Wondered if I Should Get Re-Baptized… Adult baptism was a dramatic event in the early church. After a lengthy period of study and fasting, the new Christian would be, in the darkness of Easter morning, stripped naked and fully immersed before being reclothed in new white garments–a symbol of death to the old life and birth to the new. –William Placher, […]
- Oh Origen, oh so unoriginal. Tonight I am writing a paper for my phenomenal New Testament class on “Women, the Bible, and the Church,” with Dr. David Scholer. We are unabashedly studying the good, the bad, and the ugly. It is a class on how women in the church have been treated over the ages, and why. We’re reading a […]
- day seven.
- Ramen at the Lord’s Table I have some not-so-healthy habits. I stay up too late. I drink too much coffee. I eat things that remind me of college, like ramen noodles and mac-n-cheese. These are non-meals, but I do enjoy real meals, and find the conversation with friends as much of a feast as the eating. I am eating solitary […]
- Donating to The Simple Way and Potter St. After the fire, The Simple Way has announced two ways you can give to rebuild their community. I’m amazed that at a time when they could take “all the money for themselves” that they are likewise raising support for all of their neighbors on Potter Street. This is the Way of Jesus. Click here to […]
- 24-7 Prayer Week Yesterday we kicked off a 24-7 Prayer week at my church. Sunday morning about 10 middle and high school kiddos transformed my office into the prayer room while sweating, laughing, and eating Doritos. We’re about 30 hours into it and we’ve had a pretty much unbroken chain of prayer, much to my surprise. This afternoon […]
- Working for the Church While Your Family Dies I’m listening to an exceptional record entitled “Neon Bible” while writing papers about the local church. This is ironical, child. Arcade Fire’s newest release is as pretentious as indie rock gets, and that’s their point. It is swooning with over-production, but that’s what a Neon Bible does when it’s flashing in a store-front. “Intervention” is […]
- Jesus at the Yard Sale My day was flooded with yard-saledom. Our youth group did one of those insane churchwide junk sales filled with blood, sweat, and sweet old ladies knocking early on the doors at 6:30am. We did the sale to raise money to mostly give away, and made about $1k. It flies in the face of what makes […]
- Flying Red Pens Tonight, red pens were a-flying in my room. We are studying 1 Timothy in my Fuller class. Oh, the legendary first letter to Timothy! The book that has caused many a woman to have imaginary boxing-matches with St. Paul over his apparent misogyny! Well, N.T. Wright is helping me see Paul in a whole new […]
- Gospel Choir 101 I think I need more gospel choirs in my life. Today for our Easter celebration we were led in worship by a small gospel choir from folks in our congregation. It was so lovely and quite celebratory. As much as I love acoustic guitars and earth instruments in worship, there’s something about clapping aloud and […]