Gospel

600 Pages

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I recently read three books, each running about 200 pages.

Hsu_2 The first was The Suburban Christian by Albert Hsu.  I thought it was a very helpful book on suburban Christian spirituality that fills a gap in understanding life in suburbia.  There are points Hsu makes that I don't completely agree with, but all-in-all this is a good book worth checking out.

Simple The second was Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger.  I really wasn't sure what to expect since I hadn't read Rainer in near a decade.  I really enjoyed the book.  It was similar to something Andy Stanley might say (and at times has said), and I say that as a compliment.  If you are a pastor or church leader, this book will have plenty of good advice for you.

Speaking_1 The third and final read I both started and finished last night.  It was Speaking of Jesus by J. Mack Stiles.  This book has been on my shelf for a few years at least.  I really was looking to read a book that gave some practical, conversational helps.  I wasn't disappointed.  There were a few places where I wish Stiles would have taken a more missional approach, but as a whole I liked the book and would encourage my people to read it.  If you are looking for some practical advice on talking with people about Jesus there are many good things out there, and this book is a good one too.

The World Reconciled

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From whales to waterfalls, the whole created order has in principle been reconciled to God.  Like a sovereign making a proclamation and sending off his heralds to bear it to the distant corners of his empire, God has in Jesus Christ proclaimed once and for all that the world which he made has been reconciled to him.  His heralds, scurrying off to the ends of the earth with the news, are simply agents, messengers, of this one antecedent authoritative proclamation.

N.T. Wright in TNTC: Colossians and Philemon (on Colossians 1:23), p 85.

The Task of Evangelism

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The task of evangelism is...best understood as the proclamation that Jesus is already Lord, that in him God's new creation has broken into history, and that all people are therefore summoned to submit to him in love, worship and obedience.  The logic of this message requires that those who announce it should be seeking to bring Christ's Lordship to bear on every area of human and worldly existence.  Christians must work to help create conditions in which human beings, and the whole created world, can live as God always intended.

N.T. Wright in TNTC: Colossians and Philemon (on Colossians 1:19-20), 79-80.

Core Values

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I'm preaching through a series on Core Values for my church.  We have five: Truth, Beauty, Redemption, Community, & Mission.  This Sunday the Core Value is community. 

The series has been phenomenal, for me as the pastor-teacher and for the congregation.  It's been a great discipline to derive some values for our church in our context, prepare the messages, and watch our people respond.  The response has been exciting.

This has been a more difficult series in some ways for me.  I typically preach through books of the Bible, so this is harder work.  I also realize that once I define the values they are considered defined.  I feel obligated to be comprehensive yet simple.

One thing I have done is to not only apply the values so we know how we live them out, but also to have one significant and challenging application each week.  I want our people to respond concretely to each value. 

So, for example, the first Core Value was truth.  For our concrete application we took an offering for Bibles that we could buy in bulk and have for giving to friends, relatives, co-workers and neighbors.  If we value truth, let's get the Word out!  The offering allowed us to buy 120 ESV Bibles (Outreach Edition, both OT and NT).  It's fun to watch our church respond and see something tangible happen because of it.  The Bibles arrived early this week.

This week as I prepare to talk about community, I've realized how helpful it is for our community of believers to think through what we value together.  God is doing some great things.

Sacred Space Ministry

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Imago Dei in Portland, where Rick McKinley is pastor, has started something called Sacred Space.  From the Sacred Space website...

sacred space is an urban renewal project spearheaded by Imago Dei Community.

sacred space emblemLast fall, nearly two hundred people got together on a sunny September day with a vision. The team descended upon St. Francis Park in SE Portland to serve in an amazing renovation project with over $5,000 in resources raised. The park was transformed from a blighted area into sacred space.

After a year of dreaming, praying, and planning, our vision has grown.

And it’s still growing.

On August 12, we expect one thousand people will come together to bring restoration, resurrection, and renewal to about fifty spots around Portland, Oregon.

With shovels and rakes, hammers and nails, hard work, healing, and laughter.

We’d love for you to be a part of it.  Look for signup information soon.

the idea

plantSacred Space is about recalling our duty to preserve creation by reclaiming harmony with God’s Kingdom: the way things should be. We are committed to a missional journey of actively repairing the broken places all around us, partnering with God to restore our divinely-created habitat.

We want to engage the city in this process of regeneration, planting seeds of hope and nurturing the faith that we can make life better together. We believe that God invites people from all beliefs into this progressive movement. As we combine our talents we experience authentic community rich in meaning, truth, beauty and worship.

Webber & Story

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I really enjoyed Robert Webber's article in the Spring 2006 Criswell Theological Review: "Narrating the World Once Again: A Case for an Ancient-Future Faith."  If you get a chance and can find a copy of the CTR, read it.  My "tight" evangelical readers may shiver at all the uses of the word "story" or "narrative," but hey, our existence and ministry is rooted in, concerning, and continuing The Story.  So there. :) 

A couple of quotes...

I want to articulate three very specific paths for the Emerging church to follow in order to restore the ancient biblical and historical narrative from which to minister in a post Christian world: 1) deconstruct the current accommodation of ministry to the cultural narrative, 2) recover the story-formed nature of the good news, and 3) re-situate ministry in the divine narrative. (p 16)

Evangelicalism is so thoroughly conditioned by the culture in which it seeks to minister, that it has the appearance of the commonplace.  It has become what people want to hear, not what it is that God wants to say and do.  This indictment of evangelical Christianity--that it is culturally conditioned--is only the surface problem.  The deeper problem is that by allowing itself to become conditioned by the "surface culture," it missed the point of the deeper cultural crisis.  This crisis is that our world has become storyless.  There is no unified story that gives meaning to life and history.  Everything has been reduced to "my" story.  But there is no universal story in which my story is situated. (p 19)

The task of the next generation of leaders is to disassociate themselves from the culturally conditioned practices of the evangelical church, and recover the divine narrative in which all ministry is situated. (p 20)

While I Was Away...

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Having a great trip to OBI in the Kentucky "sticks."  God is doing some great things as I preach.  Students are responding to the Gospel.  I'm tired, physically and emotionally, but the words keep coming.  Awesome stuff.  I should be home and posting again on Friday.  Here's a pic just outside the front door of where we are staying.

Uh, Moo!

Michael Spencer (the iMonk) is a great host.  I'm at his house right now on his wi-fi.  If you read his online stuff, he's everything you think he will be.  Well, all but the Kentucky twang.  Actually he has presented me with a very prestigious award.  I'm honored.

In other news...

William Dembski leaves SBTS for SWBTS.

Dan at Eucatastrophe has some Keller quotes.

Keller: Preaching to Believers/Unbelievers

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Tim Keller gave a lecture at Covenant Seminary in 2004 on Preaching to Believers and Unbelievers.  He deals with a few very important points.  One of them is about the power of the preaching event over the moralistic application of the sermon (evidenced by taking notes).  I have quoted Keller on this issue recently.  He also deals with Deconstructing Defeater Beliefs in the lecture.  Give it a listen.

Healthy Habits

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StottI've started a new habit.  Every week I spend most of my time on sermon prep on Friday and Saturday.  On Saturday evening, when my preparations are done, I'm reading for an hour on the Gospel, the Cross, or the life and work of Jesus.  I find as I finish my preparation it really helps me to focus on the point of every biblical passage, the Gospel.

I'm starting by rereading John Stott's The Cross of Christ, which I read in seminary and loved.