Blog (Page 16)
While There`s Hope There`s Life
Most people (me included) use the word hope as a verb, like in the closing of a conversation, “I hope things get better.” Honestly, it’s usually just wishful thinking and a way to sound compassionate but that’s not what people need. While there is a active part to the hope that people need, the first thing that our community needs is for us to be a people of hope. The noun form of the word, a hope that is as…
How Should We Respond to a Community Tragedy?
The mass shooting that occurred at a theatre in Aurora, Colorado, has once again reawakened societal fears, invaded the psyche of our nation and sparked another round of political debate. For Coloradans memories and feelings associated with the Columbine High School shootings in 1999 and the YWAM and New Life Church shootings in 2007 instantly came flooding back. Our state has once again been rocked by the senseless murder of innocent lives and we are left with a gaping range…
The Favor of God
The commercialization of the “Blessing of God” has become a multi-million dollar business that extends from the pulpit, to books, to television and to online media. The promoters of this other gospel have capitalized on our insatiable appetite for wealth and possessions and have put forth an ideology that is the American Dream with a supernatural spin. This gospel not only promises material wealth and success but also physical health and a pain-free life. It offers an all powerful genie-like…
DNA – The Primacy of Gospel Proclamation
This is part three of a series exploring the essence of the DNA strands that define the nature, appearance, personality, motivation, and purpose for all those that identify with the community of faith known as NineSevenZero Church. This process of definition will insure that as we grow, as we send out people, as we replicate groups, as we reproduce fellowships, that each one will contain an exact imprint of the genetic material necessary for life, growth, and reproduction. The primary…
The Problem with the Big Box Church
The way we do church is working with fewer people in our culture all the time.The model of church that most of us are a product of is quickly becoming ineffective in today’s world. This isn’t about styles of worship, high church or low church, mainline or independent, protestant or catholic, liturgical or pentecostal. This is about all of the Christian churches. Just about every church in America can be described with three words: “Come to us.” That is it.…
DNA – The Missional Strand
Today’s American society has many similarities to the culture which surrounded the first century church: People are spiritually sensitive and hungry but they are not looking to the Christian church. The culture is pluralistic but intolerant of the exclusive claims of Christ. The Christian faith is politically maligned and culturally held in disdain. That first century culture was God’s incubator for the genesis of the Church. We know the sect of Christ followers grew rapidly. The Church multiplied at an…
A Pentecost Reflection
One of the things I love about the Scriptures is that they speak to me where I’m living. As I read the account of the Pentecost in Acts chapter 2 I was drawn to different passages as though they were highlighted. While I have to work at reading the Scripture though lenses that include all of the Bible and that recognize its first audience, it’s much easier for me to view it through the perspective of my life. As a…
DNA of NineSevenZero Church
DNA is the organic molecule that contains the hereditary material for a living organism. Nearly every cell in an organism has the same DNA yet there are many types of cells that look and function differently. The genetic information in DNA is stored as a code made from four chemical bases. Just as letters of an alphabet form words, words form sentences, sentences form paragraphs, paragraphs form chapters, and chapters form books, the sequence of these bases determines the information…
Lexicon (part 1)
A lexicon of common terms will be helpful to accurately communicate vision, strategy, and tactical plans. Many words have baggage associated with them or have had their meanings stretched by cultural usage. Instead of creating new terms, I think we can simply agree to a common understanding of meaning when we use them. A common vocabulary and consistant usage of terms will enable us to communicate and exchange ideas more efficiently and with greater accuracy. Here’s the first list of…
Look Out – We`re Contagious
If you examine the New Testament and church history, it is clear that there is no one “right” form of the church. Part of the church’s sustaining power and the mystery of it’s effectiveness is its ability to morph its form to reach a culture. There are several forms of the church that are present in North America today and we’re going to look at them to help us at NineSevenZero Church know who we are and how we fit…
Relationship – It`s the context
One of the questions that we must always be asking ourselves as we go forward in the process of launching NineSevenZero Church is, “Is what we are doing or intending to do promote a relational connection to God or people?” If the answer to that question is “No” then that’s also the answer to the question of whether we should do it. Relationship is the context in which life and mission is done. It’s the pot that holds the stew.…
The View from the Other Side of the Fence – Part 3
Through the Eyes of a Visitor This is the final set of observations from my recent foray on the other side of the fence. It’s a list of perspectives as a visitor that will hopefully help us create a church that that is inviting and welcoming. 1. How do I get there when you are there? It was surprising to me that in the www days that we live in how many churches do not have any web presence. I…