Keller: Ministry in Global Cities Pt. III

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Tim Keller continues his thoughts on ministry in world cities with his newly released article "Ministry in the New Global Culture of Major City-Centers Part III."

City-center churches should have as equal as possible emphases on: a)welcoming, attracting, and engaging secular/non-Christian people; b) character change through deep community and small groups; c) holistically serving the city (and especially the poor) in both word and deed; d) producing cultural leaders who integrate faith and work in society; and e) routinely multiplying itself into new churches with the same vision. There are many churches that major on one or two of these but the breadth, balance, and blend of these commitments is rare in a church. Nevertheless, this balance is crucial for ministry in city centers.

Here are the links to Part I and Part II, and Part IV is coming soon.  Also stop by my Tim Keller Resource page.

Blog Driscoll's New Book

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UPDATE: They already have more than 75 requests.  The offer is closed.
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Confessions_1 Don't miss this opportunity to get Mark Driscoll's new book for free.  If you will blog review Confessions of a Reformission Rev. (here's mine) Zondervan will send you a free copy.  Only the first 75 bloggers who email them get the book, so get on it!  From Mark Driscoll's blog...

If you are a blogger and are willing to write a review of the book, Zondervan will send a free copy to the first seventy-five bloggers who ask. Your review does not need to be favorable and this may be a good way for some of you to take a good whack at me free of charge.

Go to Driscoll's blog for more info.

Crash-lash

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Crash_1Roger Ebert has a curious article on "The Fury of the Crash-lash."  It seems that calling "Crash" a better movie, which Ebert does, is considered more than a little homophobic.  He gives a helpful response.

The nature of the attacks on "Crash" by the supporters of "Brokeback Mountain" seem to proceed from the other position: "Brokeback" is better not only because of its artistry but because of its subject matter, and those who disagree hate homosexuals. Its supporters could vote for it in good conscience, vote for it and feel they had made a progressive move, vote for it and not feel that there was any stain on their liberal credentials for shunning what "Crash" had to offer.

Salukis Win MVC

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Salukis_1Let's give it up for my alma mater!  The Southern Illinois Salukis won the MVC basketball tournament and are now heading to the NCAA tournament. Go Dawgs!  On a related note, an SIU cheerleader fell on her head and was carried off on a stretcher.

Waldo As students, my friends and I would go to every home game.  My roommate would dress up like the "Where's Waldo" guy and walk around the stadium.  Then we would hold up a sign saying "Where's Waldo?"  College fun is the best.

FYI, I met my wife, got married, and became a Christian at SIU.  Good times.

Things I Feel Like Saying...

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Last night Joe Thorn and I were able to go out to dinner with each other, and more importantly our hot wives.  It was a pretty expensive place, but we were able to handle about half of the bill with a gift certificate.  Wow, it was good.  We talked for about 3 1/2 hours.  I hope everyone has friends you like to be with for long dinners and conversation.  "There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God." Ecclesiastes 2:24

I've been thinking for a while about posting mini-reviews of some of Tim Keller's articles and sermons that are available online.  Then I can link each mini-review to the article/sermon on my Tim Keller Resource page.  I want to do this 1. Because I want to keep wrestling with his ideas, and 2. Because I want to continue to help others find Keller's stuff.  Might be fun.  We'll see if I get anywhere with the idea.

Yesterday I broke my pinky toe on my left foot.  Second time I've done that.  I keep forgetting to walk around door-jams.  Now I'm in a good deal of pain and will be for at least a few weeks.  Bummer.  You know 1 Corinthians 12 is so much easier to understand when you lose use of your little toe.  You realize how even the smallest parts of the body are so crucial.

A few weeks ago our 5 year old was running through the house (he sometimes calls himself "Dash" from The Incredibles) and ran into the vacuum.  It's pretty normal for our kids to crash and burn as they run through the house.  But he was obviously in some pain.  So I grabbed him up and put him on my bed.  He was bleeding pretty bad and he basically sliced the whole tip off one of his toes.  The tip was dangling and I looked at Molly and said, "I think it's going to fall off."  My son heard and responded with all seriousness and blubbering, "OH, I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!"  I think he takes 1 Corinthians 12 even more seriously than me.

Our cat was declawed this past Monday.  We got him back Wednesday, and he reopened a toe wound (sheesh, what's going on with toes in our house).  So he had to go back to the vet for a day and a half to keep him from reopening more wounds. 

Two days ago I went to the doctor for the second time in 5 weeks because I've had a cough going on 4 months now.  About 4 days a week I cough hard enough to give myself a massive headache.  I've been on antibiotics and Claritin, now I'm on an asthma inhaler.  I don't think it's working, but still have almost two weeks left to see if it has an effect.  The doctor also had me go in for a chest x-ray at the hospital.  I'll hear back about that soon, I suppose.  What a week.

Amos Lee's self-titled CD is amazing.  I'll probably post more on it someday.

My wife made orange chicken for lunch today with a chopped salad (I LOVE chopped salads) with some sort of orange vinaigrette dressing and it rocked like a hurricane.  Dang, she is awesome.

Okay, that's enough.

Choices

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I was leaving the house today while my family was sitting at the kitchen table coloring.  I said, "Goodbye, I love you!"  My 9 year old daughter called back first, "I love you. Make good choices."  Besides being the funniest thing I've heard in a while, it was actually very good advice.

Pastoring and Planting

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I'm re-listening through some of Keller's online sermons and talks.  You can find them on my Tim Keller Resources page.  Whether you are pastoring (like me), planting a church or a church leader, Tim Keller's talk on church planting, "Why to Plant Churches," is very helpful.   I really like how he explains the value of new churches, not only as a way of effective evangelism, but also as a way to strengthen established churches in the area.  Check it out.

Last.fm

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TurndownthesuckI noticed last.fm a few days ago via Joe Thorn.  Now Joe has a post up on it.  It's a free music player that plays according to your musical preferences.  So for example, I tell it I like Rogue Wave, Wilco, and The Avett Brothers and it plays music from these guys as well as from groups and singers who are in the genre ranges of the ones I like.  Pretty cool. 

You can skip songs you don't like (even block them so they won't be played again) and mark the ones you really like.  There is much more to the site than this, but this should be reason enough to check it out.

Story About Tim Keller in NYT

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In today's New York Times there is a story about Tim Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian called "Preaching the Word and Quoting the Voice".  Great stuff.  Some excerpts...

Dr. Keller "has grasped the strategic significance of the city, of theurban culture and the need to engage that very diverse culture at every level," he said. "Our culture is urban-driven."

[...]

Observing Dr. Keller's professorial pose on stage, it is easy to understand his appeal. While he hardly shrinks from difficult Christian truths, he sounds different from many of the shrill evangelical voices in the public sphere. "A big part is he preaches on such an intellectual level," said Suzanne Perron, 37, a fashion designer who is one of many who had stopped going to church before she discovered Redeemer several years ago. "You can go to Redeemer and you can not be a Christian and listen to that sermon and be completely engaged."

[...]

An important lesson that Dr. Keller said he had tried to convey to other pastors is that the hard sell rarely works in the city. Becoming a Christian in a place like New York, he said, is more often the product not of one decision but of many little decisions.

"One decision might be Christianity is more relevant than I think," he said. "Or, here's two Christians that I don't think are idiots."

[...]

His church's main goal, Dr. Keller said, is to teach pastors how to truly love the city, rather than fear its worldly influences. Unlike many evangelicals, Dr. Keller advocates an indirect approach to change.

"If you seek power before service, you'll neither get power, nor serve," he said. "If you seek to serve people more than to gain power, you will not only serve people, you will gain influence. That's very much the way Jesus did it."

Tim's son, Jonathan, has commented on the article...

Redeemer does not aspire to fame. In fact, Redeemer did not want the article done but the journalist was going to do it whether or not Redeemer helped him to write it. And what better way to make sure there are less errors in reporting than to participate? So there it is in the Times. Hopefully it does not have an harmful repercussions. Redeemer is happy to fly under the radar of the majority.

For more from Keller, visit my list of Tim Keller resources.

(HT on the NYT article: Chris Giammona)

New Acts29 Boot Camp Audio

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New Acts29 Boot Camp audio (Feb 2006) is now online.  I haven't listened to any of it yet, but I can already highly recommend Driscoll's Reverse Engineering Your Life and Daniel Montgomery's workshop, The Functional Centrality of the Gospel.  I know Daniel (pastor of Sojourn in Louisville, KY) and we talked over lunch at the Dallas Acts29 Boot Camp about the gospel.  I'll go out on a limb and say his talk should rock.