Thursday, December 17, 2009
Jack Deere on Availability to God
When I look at the life of Jesus, I never really see him 'finding time for God'. Rather, I see a Son whose time belongs completely to the Father. Jesus was never in a hurry. He never needed more time. This is because he looked on his time as his Father's time. Also, he was completely available for his Father's desires. He only did what he saw his Father doing (john 5:19). And he was always in the right place at the right time in order to fulfill the desires of his heavenly Father. I am continually amazed at the spontaneity and informality of the ministry of the Lord... Yes, it is comical to imagine Jesus struggling for a sermon. His life is the sermon, and he ministered out of the daily overflow of his communion with his heavenly Father. He was able to do this because he was completely available to God.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Jack Deere on Bible Deism
One of the most serious flaws of Bible deism is the confidence the Bible deist places in his abilities to interpret the Bible. He assumes that the greater his knowledge of the Bible, the more accurate his interpretations are... But the Author of the Bible is the best interpreter of the Bible... How does one persuade God to illumine the Bible? Does God give illumination to the ones who know Hebrew and Greek the most? What if the condition of one's heart is more important for understanding the Bible than the abilities of one's mind? (1 Cor 1:26-30; 1 Cor 2:7-10; John 5:37-40)
Monday, December 14, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Tim Chester Reviews "The Vine and the Trellis"
A summary of the book:
?Vine work is about the ministry of the Word of God, by the power of the Spirit. It is the ministry that sees people converted, changed, and made mature in Christ. Trellis work is all the other things we do in our churches that hopefully support that vine work, but which actually aren?t vine work in themselves.? The authors of this book don?t dismiss ?trellis work? ? all the institutional and structural stuff of church. But they argue we need a refocus onto ?vine work? ? making disciples.
There?s a lot of good stuff in this book. I particularly love the key principles elaborated of chapters 2 and 12:
Ministry mind-shifts
1. From running programs to building people
2. From running events to training people
3. From using people to growing people
4. From filling gaps to training new workers
5. From solving problems to helping people make progress
6. From clinging to ordained ministry to developing team leadership
7. From focusing on church polity to forging ministry partnerships
8. From relying on training institutions to establishing local training
9. From focusing on immediate pressures to aiming for long-term expansion
10. From engaging in management to engaging in ministry
11. From seeking church growth to desiring gospel growth
Summary Propositions
1. Our goal is to make disciples
2. Churches tend towards institutionalism as sparks fly upwards
3. The heart of disciple-making is prayerful teaching
4. The goal of all ministry ? not just one-to-one work ? is to nurture disciples
5. To be a disciple is to be a disciple-maker
6. Disciple-makers need to be trained and equipped in conviction, character and competence
7. There is only one class of disciples, regardless of different roles or responsibilities
8. The Great Commission, and its disciple-making imperative, needs to drive fresh thinking about our Sunday meetings and the place of training in congregational life
9. Training almost always starts small and grows by multiplying workers
10. We need to challenge and recruit the next generation of pastors, teachers and evangelists
Making a start
Step 1: Set the agenda on Sundays
Step 2: Work closely with your elders or parish council
Step 3: Start building a new team of co-workers
Step 4: Work out with you co-workers how disciple-making is going to grow in your context
Step 5: Run some training programs
Step 6: Keep an eye out for ?people worth watching?
?Vine work is about the ministry of the Word of God, by the power of the Spirit. It is the ministry that sees people converted, changed, and made mature in Christ. Trellis work is all the other things we do in our churches that hopefully support that vine work, but which actually aren?t vine work in themselves.? The authors of this book don?t dismiss ?trellis work? ? all the institutional and structural stuff of church. But they argue we need a refocus onto ?vine work? ? making disciples.
There?s a lot of good stuff in this book. I particularly love the key principles elaborated of chapters 2 and 12:
Ministry mind-shifts
1. From running programs to building people
2. From running events to training people
3. From using people to growing people
4. From filling gaps to training new workers
5. From solving problems to helping people make progress
6. From clinging to ordained ministry to developing team leadership
7. From focusing on church polity to forging ministry partnerships
8. From relying on training institutions to establishing local training
9. From focusing on immediate pressures to aiming for long-term expansion
10. From engaging in management to engaging in ministry
11. From seeking church growth to desiring gospel growth
Summary Propositions
1. Our goal is to make disciples
2. Churches tend towards institutionalism as sparks fly upwards
3. The heart of disciple-making is prayerful teaching
4. The goal of all ministry ? not just one-to-one work ? is to nurture disciples
5. To be a disciple is to be a disciple-maker
6. Disciple-makers need to be trained and equipped in conviction, character and competence
7. There is only one class of disciples, regardless of different roles or responsibilities
8. The Great Commission, and its disciple-making imperative, needs to drive fresh thinking about our Sunday meetings and the place of training in congregational life
9. Training almost always starts small and grows by multiplying workers
10. We need to challenge and recruit the next generation of pastors, teachers and evangelists
Making a start
Step 1: Set the agenda on Sundays
Step 2: Work closely with your elders or parish council
Step 3: Start building a new team of co-workers
Step 4: Work out with you co-workers how disciple-making is going to grow in your context
Step 5: Run some training programs
Step 6: Keep an eye out for ?people worth watching?
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Mark Driscoll on Reflection
Mark has some helpful questions in an outline of how he does a day of reflection:
Date:
Modified or Full Plan:
Note: Here I am making note if it?s one hour or one day for silence and solitude.
Place and Conditions:
Note: I am someone for whom space deeply matters. On a nice day I sit outside by a river or at the beach in a beautiful spot. I don?t like coffee shops (too noisy and crowded) or the office (too much distraction). I like to be up high with a view, crave fresh air, love the sun, and cannot relax where it?s loud, busy, ugly, stinky, disorganized, poorly designed, uncomfortable, or too hot or cold, and yes, I am picky. So, I note where I was and that helps me keep a record of nice spots for silence and solitude days. I borrow friends? vacation homes, have spots I like outside of town in the mountains, and so forth.
Part 1 ? Recent Evidences of God?s Grace
?Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.? ? 2 Thess. 2:16?17
Note: To have good words and works, we need hope and comfort by seeing and savoring evidences of God?s grace. I start with this topic to get me into a mode of worship. I can be quite a gloomy and moody person, so this gets me going in the right direction for my time with God. I often take an hour on this topic alone and make a long list, thanking God and praying as I go.
Part 2 ? Deep Questions
?The purpose in a man?s mind is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.? ? Prov. 20:5 (RSV)
Note: These are my questions and you can make your own or change mine. I don?t include Bible reading and study because they are like breathing to me, but you may want to add them. In question four I?m talking about my wife, Grace. I list each of my kids in question five because with a big family it?s too easy to treat the kids as a herd rather than knowing and pastoring each one. I put my work last, figuring that if the rest of my life is in order, work will go well. I rate every question on a scale so that I can be honest about how I?m doing and track progress over time. The prayer points are things I pray about as I?m journaling and things to put on my prayer list that week. The action items go on my calendar. Lastly, I share a lot of this with my wife, kids, friends, and others, and a lot of my blogs and ministry training are simply sharing what comes out of my journaling on days of silence and solitude.
1. How accurate is my view of God lately?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
2. How are my joy in the Holy Spirit and corresponding hope?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
3. What temptations and sins are most ensnaring?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
4. How is my connection with my wife?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
5. How is my connection with each of my children?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
6. How is my health (e.g., weight, diet, exercise)?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
7. How is my sleep (e.g., bed time, quality of sleep, length of sleep)?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
8. How is my energy level?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
9. How is my dominion over my technology (e.g., cell phone, laptop, email, text)?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
10. How is the stewardship of my wealth (e.g., finances, possessions, property, investments)?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
11. How is my social life with friends and extended family?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
12. Who or what is filling my tank lately?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
13. Who or what is draining my tank lately?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
14. Who has sinned against me and how am I responding?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
15. Who do I need to confide in and where should I seek wisdom?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
16. Are there any warning signs that I am burning out?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
17. Am I successfully getting out of the river onto the bank enough through silence, solitude, study, and Sabbath?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
18. What do I need to stop doing, do less of, or hand off to someone else?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
19. How are my self-deception and truth suppression?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
20. How is my writing (e.g., books, blogs, papers)?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
21. How is my preaching (preparation and results, in and out of Mars Hill)?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
Date:
Modified or Full Plan:
Note: Here I am making note if it?s one hour or one day for silence and solitude.
Place and Conditions:
Note: I am someone for whom space deeply matters. On a nice day I sit outside by a river or at the beach in a beautiful spot. I don?t like coffee shops (too noisy and crowded) or the office (too much distraction). I like to be up high with a view, crave fresh air, love the sun, and cannot relax where it?s loud, busy, ugly, stinky, disorganized, poorly designed, uncomfortable, or too hot or cold, and yes, I am picky. So, I note where I was and that helps me keep a record of nice spots for silence and solitude days. I borrow friends? vacation homes, have spots I like outside of town in the mountains, and so forth.
Part 1 ? Recent Evidences of God?s Grace
?Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.? ? 2 Thess. 2:16?17
Note: To have good words and works, we need hope and comfort by seeing and savoring evidences of God?s grace. I start with this topic to get me into a mode of worship. I can be quite a gloomy and moody person, so this gets me going in the right direction for my time with God. I often take an hour on this topic alone and make a long list, thanking God and praying as I go.
Part 2 ? Deep Questions
?The purpose in a man?s mind is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.? ? Prov. 20:5 (RSV)
Note: These are my questions and you can make your own or change mine. I don?t include Bible reading and study because they are like breathing to me, but you may want to add them. In question four I?m talking about my wife, Grace. I list each of my kids in question five because with a big family it?s too easy to treat the kids as a herd rather than knowing and pastoring each one. I put my work last, figuring that if the rest of my life is in order, work will go well. I rate every question on a scale so that I can be honest about how I?m doing and track progress over time. The prayer points are things I pray about as I?m journaling and things to put on my prayer list that week. The action items go on my calendar. Lastly, I share a lot of this with my wife, kids, friends, and others, and a lot of my blogs and ministry training are simply sharing what comes out of my journaling on days of silence and solitude.
1. How accurate is my view of God lately?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
2. How are my joy in the Holy Spirit and corresponding hope?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
3. What temptations and sins are most ensnaring?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
4. How is my connection with my wife?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
5. How is my connection with each of my children?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
6. How is my health (e.g., weight, diet, exercise)?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
7. How is my sleep (e.g., bed time, quality of sleep, length of sleep)?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
8. How is my energy level?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
9. How is my dominion over my technology (e.g., cell phone, laptop, email, text)?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
10. How is the stewardship of my wealth (e.g., finances, possessions, property, investments)?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
11. How is my social life with friends and extended family?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
12. Who or what is filling my tank lately?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
13. Who or what is draining my tank lately?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
14. Who has sinned against me and how am I responding?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
15. Who do I need to confide in and where should I seek wisdom?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
16. Are there any warning signs that I am burning out?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
17. Am I successfully getting out of the river onto the bank enough through silence, solitude, study, and Sabbath?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
18. What do I need to stop doing, do less of, or hand off to someone else?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
19. How are my self-deception and truth suppression?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
20. How is my writing (e.g., books, blogs, papers)?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
21. How is my preaching (preparation and results, in and out of Mars Hill)?
? Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high)
? Prayer Points
? Action Items
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Neil Cole on Discipleship
We should lower the bar of how church is done and raise the bar of what it means to be a disciple. That is, if we can conceive and structure a church that is simple enough that anyone can do it, and is made up of people who follow Jesus at any cost, the result will be a movement that empowers the common Christian to do the uncommon works of God. In contrast it seems that many of our current practices run contrary to this - we make church complex and discipleship too easy.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Richard Niebuhr on Liberal Christianity
Richard Niebuhr?s 1937 description of liberalism is alive and well: ?a God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross.?
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