This morning I was reflecting on the NT view of worship and how radically different it is from conceptions of worship in the OT. Jesus truly made a seismic shift in the worship patterns of the Church. In the OT worship was about a place (the Temple), and the materials (incense, birds, lambs, bulls etc.), … More Worship is What We Were Made For
“We Christians should bother [with Evangelism] because of God the Father’s love . . . . All lovers will give anything, endure anything, do anything for the beloved. That is what our God is like. And if we are children of such a God, it stands to reason that we should mirror in our own … More Why Evangelism is at the Core (not the fringe) of Spiritual Formation
Thursday is for Discipleship: What should our churches be? “I’m a house church planter, and I am trying to figure out the core essentials of who and how we do what we do.”” “I’m a traditional church planter with a small core group. What should we be focusing on as a church?” “I’ve got a … More What are the Non-negotiables We Should be Striving for as a Church?
Discipleship Our first church plant did a survey of the men at about year ten. We found that 25% of the men, (I think it was something like 24.3%), had led someone to Christ in the previous three years. Dan Spader, the founder of Sonlife Ministry and a national leader in the area of discipleship … More Twenty Five Percent of the Men Had Led Someone to Christ in the Previous Three Years
Over the last month or so, I’ve written about the problem we have in the American church-related to discipleship. (see We’ve got discipleship all wrong and Penetrating Post-Christian Communities with the Gospel and in a number of other places). But the issue keeps coming up in numerous posts and in conversations with pastors. This week … More “Making Disciples” is a Unitary Act
Thursday is for Discipleship Everyone is enraptured with Latin these days. No matter where you look in the literature, whether it is church growth, or mission, or church planting, or spiritual formation/discipleship, or evangelism, or preaching, everyone is rediscovering the joys (and obscurities) of Latin. One of the most frequently used Latin phrases today is … More Helping Your People Embrace the Mission of God
Bill Hull has Done it Again. He’s written another book that chronicles his life-long journey into understanding the topic of discipleship. There is always more to learn. This book won’t say it all but it does represent the maturing of a lifetime of discovery into what it means to be a disciple. Previous works by … More Christlike: The Pursuit of Uncomplicated Obedience
Thursday is for Discipleship Earlier this week, Michael Fast visited the blog and asked this question: “Isn’t evangelism part of discipleship? It seems like your definition of discipleship is dealing with people who are already evangelized hence the move away from interacting with people farther from God and focussing on people who are already fully … More Two Words for One Biblical Term: How dissection obscures understanding.
The Settler’s Struggle with the Sojourner The settler doesn’t like the company of the sojourner. They threaten his security. Their past lives frighten him and make him uncomfortable. Their dysfunctional pasts are messy and unfamiliar. Some of them sport tattoos and piercings and hair color and clothing that frighten and confuse the settler. He has … More We are a Cross-bought People: Part 3
We Ought to be a Cross-shaped People What is the self-identity of the Christian? How is the believer to view himself in his horizontal relationships to the material world and in his vertical relationship to God? Who does he see him/herself to be? A better way to phrase the question would be, “How am I, … More We are a Cross-bought People: Part 1
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