Rethinking the Fisherman parable. It points out the risk of becoming a theorist in ministry, particularly evangelism. I had referenced the story before, HERE. What got me thinking was a bit of FB dialogue I was somewhat in. The discussion started out simply enough: Do we in missions (and perhaps Evangelical Christianity as a whole) …
Month: August 2019
Paradoxical Missions
I am teaching Contemporary Missions at our seminary, and as I am doing so, I am realizing there are many things changing rapidly that means I probably need to (finally) move on from Stan Guthrie's book "Missions in the Third Millenium" as required reading. Good book, but the class is CONTEMPORARY issues rather than TWENTY …
What Does Your Front Door Look Like?
Most people see the front door of your church. They don't see your church's interior. They don't see people of your church. They see what you present to the world. This is obvious... a truism in fact. So why do we do such a poor job on how we present ourselves to the world around? …
Disgruntled Sheep and Secular, Local Missions
Great article to read. Missionaries have made many mistakes... but in those mistakes, learned some important lessons reaching those outside of the church. That is true of the local church as much as the missions church. https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2019/august/what-missionaries-can-teach-us-in-post-christian-america.html
Responding to Doubters Inside and Outside of the Church
There have been some recently-in-the-news people who are famous for being Christian, who have "left the faith." One of these is Josh Harris. When I was dating age (decades ago), he wrote a book called, "I Kissed Dating Goodbye." I never read it. Marty Sampson, a member of Hillsong, also publicly announced his loss of …
Continue reading Responding to Doubters Inside and Outside of the Church
Dem Pesky False Prophets (Part 2)
Clearly this is part 2 to a part 1. You are welcome to click on that HERE, if you had not read it yet. To continue... one may assume that a true prophet would have the qualities that were suggested from Matthew 7 and enumerated in the last post. A true prophet understands him/herself. The …
Dem Pesky False Prophets (Part 1)
Next week in church I will be preaching on false prophets. Truthfully, this is not one of my favorite topics. I am doing it because I am working my way through the Sermon on the Mount. One reason it is not a topic I prefer is that there is such a temptation to name names. …
Mindfulness on the Planet of Hats
Imagine you were a director of a low-budget sci-fi TV show (think first series Star Trek or early years of Doctor Who). Your intrepid band of travellers arrive on a strange planet. But how do you make it certain that people will understand that the planet is, indeed, strange? "Worldbuilding" is difficult for writers, but …