It's Early, But This Did Make Me Pause

From the comment stream after one of John Frye's excellent posts at Jesus the Radical Pastor

Doug Jones wrote

... one result of this kind of church (where we are concerned about numbers, measurement of "growth" and expansion) has convinced many that Christianity is really just a system of moralistic, therapeutic Deism (Christian Smith, Soul Searching). In other words our churches are successfully helping teach too many that God is something like a combination divine butler and cosmic therapist, who comes when called, helps you to feel better, but doesn’t get too personally involved.

And we wonder why people aren't more committed to the work of the Body of Christ? What work? What Body?

Our theology has to include, but progress far past "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so." We have to help people create a holistic view of their place in God's overarching plan for the Kingdom of God.

I'm beginning a series on that plan as revealed in Scripture. My hope is to ground people in that understanding of the work of the Kingdom of God and my prayer is that the Holy Spirit moves them into the flow of God's work all their lives.

Act One - Creation begins this Sunday. Stay tuned.

Can I Get An Amen?

“The churches that will cease to exist are not those who are doctrinally errant, but are spiritually errant. You can’t get away with it anymore. You can’t just talk about what the bible says, you better flesh it out or you are dead. That’s what’s exciting about the world in which we live. Only the viable church of Jesus Christ will survive, the inauthentic need not apply. I want to live in the world that if the church is not the revolution that Jesus died to establish 2000 years ago it ceases to exist. I want to live in a world where the church has no more crutches, or buffers to guard her from injury. I want a church where a culture no longer protects her. Whenever the gospel enters an environment, it prevails.”
- Erwin McManus