Theology

Ban ministers in Santa Fe, NM, a beautiful and difficult place to live. The city is 40% Caucasian. There is a large lower (working poor) and upper class (movie stars) presence, but not much of a middle class. Ban began by noting that as we try to do neighborhood evangelism and church planting, wanting to feed the nations with the pure milk of the Word, we are rejected by the community who thinks we're trying to push "pig's milk." Ban showed a picture here of a pink bus with pig's ears, the "mama pig" pushing her milk! So we either burn out from talking with too many people who don't want … [Read more...] about Martin Ban – Gospel & Cultural Engagement – GCA

This morning I've been assigned to live-blog two Advanced-Track workshops. I should explain that there are three tracks of sessions represented here at the Global Church Advancement Church Planting Workshop. Foundations Track - Establishing & strengthening vision, calling, mission, philosophy, values, styles, models, strategies and plans. This 15-session, 4.5 day training is "required" for those who have not yet gone to the field, and is highly recommended for anyone in need of revitalizing their church by revisiting all the "Foundations." Essentials Track - Developing & growing ministries … [Read more...] about Global Church Advancement (GCA) Conference – Day 2

I was asked to live-blog a seminar called The Internet & The Sovereignty of God by Drew Goodmanson. I found the seminar fascinating. Goodmanson is a pastor of Kaleo Church but he is also very involved in the Internet industry. He opened by noting that this is an issue of contextualization. An increasing percentage of our culture is going on-line. Today's teenager has never known a world without ready Internet access. Most teenagers have iPODs. About 2/3 of them have cell phones. Social networking occurs not on e-mail but on tools like Myspace. Avatar-based persistent social worlds. … [Read more...] about Drew Goodmanson – Workshop – GCA Conference

I was asked to attend a workshop led by Pastor Scotty Smith, the first of a two-part series entitled "Restoring Broken Things." Pastor Smith began by showing a four-part picture which represented the over-arching story of Scripture: Creation, Fall, Love (the Cross), Life (the final resurrection). Smith noted that dignity preceded the Fall. We were made for "unashamed nakedness." And in presenting Christ to other, we can look for these "echoes of Eden." Before the prohibition in Eden there was provision. The fall resulted in every sphere of life being broken. Blame shifting began with … [Read more...] about Scotty Smith – Restoring Broken Things – GCA

Steve Childers began by describing that he was able to visit a dungeon recently where African slaves were once kept. He reminded us that William Wilberforce struggled deeply with whether he should serve God or parliament. In the movie Amazing Grace, there is a powerful scene where a woman tells Wilberforce that He can do both. So too, we surely want our lives to account. We too, like Wilberforce, need to align our purposes with God's. God loves to manifest his presence and pour out his power on those who will dare to align their purposes more with his. [Note: I was able to put this up … [Read more...] about Steve Childers – Plenary Session I- GCA

… [Read more...] about Modern Parables – Cinematic Theology