Odds and Ends
Dirk Plantinga is out this week. He'll be missed.
Frequent commenter C. Evan Leonard started a blog -- Is Anything Sacred?
I've received more than a few encouraging and edifying e-mails in the last couple of days, probably as a result of my whining about ugly messages last week. For whatever reason, I want to say thanks to everyone who shared kind words and bits of praise. It really means a lot to me.
Don't forget about Vision Night tonight! It's gonna be gooooood. 6:30 at the Hope Park campus.
A couple of highlights from the greater God-blogosphere:
The Boar's Head Tavern is an ongoing online conversation masquerading as a group blog. As the name suggests, it's basically like a bunch of folks from different walks of life (all Christians, but different "sorts" of Christians) having conversations in a pub. I was invited to be a "fellow" of the Tavern a while back, and while I don't post there near as much as I do at my other blogs, I still try to "listen in" on the conversations and I'm a big fan of the Tavern.
This week, a BHT fellow by the name of Jeff posted some interesting excerpts from a recent church fallout in Florida. I'm not trying to say anything specific about BCC related to his reflections, but I do think it at least indicates what happened at BCC and the ensuing perspectives about it are actually not specific to BCC.
You may notice a book called The Jesus Creed in my Recommendations list in the sidebar. It is by one of my favorite scholars, Scot McKnight. That book is a fantastic read on making the Great Commandment our modern discipleship creed. McKnight, not too long ago, started a great blog called, interestingly enough, Jesus Creed, and his posts range from movie reviews to pastoral reflections to cultural critiques to hardcore academic excurses on all matters theological. This week he talked a bit about the megachurch culture and seeker-friendly churches, and as a keen theological mind, and somebody who attended Willow Creek Community Church, Professor McKnight is uniquely equipped and qualified to talk about such things with integrity and insight.
Peace. (And see you tonight?)
posted by Jared @ 7:19 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Jared,
Thanks for the link to Is Anything Sacred? :-)
I will be there at BCC tonight.... and I'm really looking forward to it. I've attended a few services already and I'm liking what I'm seeing, hearing and feeling. Not that it's all about that.... but for me.... it's been a long road to recovery, reconciliation, restoration and repentance. I am hopeful that I can and will return, along with my family, to BCC and it be for the duration.
And, just keep my "thank you's" in an open credit account from me to you... okay? :-)
The links you've provided here in this post are also very, very, very good. I was hoping you would, at some point, help make the case that BCC is not alone or had some sort of freak accident.
What is as important to grasp for me and many others... is knowing it's up to each and every individual who desires to have BCC as their home church.... to roll up their sleeves.... and get back to the full work of the Gospel... with BCC as home base.
I'm pretty much over most of what has happened. There are still a few things hanging out that I need to nip and tuck and I will.
Fortunately, for me.... you keep providing such wonderful help in processing what has happened, not only to me, but many others who care for and love God and BCC.
You are way deserving of the appreciation you are receiving. May God bless you, Jared..... deeply, richly and to the extreme....
Kind regards,
C. Evan Leonard
In reading about the mega-church critique, I still see someone else thinking that "seekers need to be targeted." I still have a problem with this "strategy" because I believe that seekers are not being properly identified. To me, a "seeker" is a person on a spiritual quest. An individual that is honestly seeking a relationship with God and may, or may not, have gone through a number of "religions."
These people are the exception rather than the rule. I believe that the Bible substantiates the general idea that God is seeking man more than man is seeking God.
As for the race/ class debate, we simply don't see many mega churches targeting lower income neighborhoods. Why ? We generally seek our own kind, intentional or not.
Think back to the cities named on that napkin....
As for Christianity or the Church dying out ? That may be what needs to happen. It's happened in Europe since WW2. Trying to compensate for the worlds lack of interest of attention span (seeking) for the spiriual smacks of contrivancy and man made programs to incubate a move of God's spirit.
Could it be that God want's a bride that seeks him over everything ? His heart hurts when we don't trust his Word or the power of the Holy Spirit to change us, and others. He wants to spit us out when we're luke-warm.
Maybe large parts of the Church need to dissolve for the Bride to be purified ?
Jared, Thanks for noticing I was gone. We're back safely. I used your reading list as the guide to my vacation reading last week and was not disappointed. "Jesus Creed" is next on my list. I did read most of "Rediscovering Church" by the founders of Willow Creek. The parallels are striking, including the fact of life that all churches at times. Good reads!
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