tangible kingdom. thank you.

i want to thank everyone who participated in reading the tangible kingdom with me. it was an interesting adventure especially with all the events that were going on at the same time, nonetheless it was great. knowing now how hard it is to get soo many people reading and reviewing a book... let's do it again! 

any suggestions for reading...

tangible kingdom. week four.

the tangible kingdom. chapters 10-12.

Attractional Approach

Unbeliever is invited to church

Unbeliever confesses belief

Unbeliever repeats a prayer (baptism)

Believer joins church

Cognitive discipleship

Focus: Counting confessions

Believing enables belonging

Incarnational Approach

Sojourner is invited to belong

Sojourner confesses interest

Sojourner experiences the good news

Sojourner participates in community

Experiential apprenticeship

Focus: Transformation

Belonging enables believing

hmm...

as i said before about my dad, he believes but does not follow. i would have to say the same with my mom. one of the biggest reasons why i love the incarnational approach is that i see my mom and dad being who they are in this setting. What i get from them is that if they go to church they feel better about themselves, well my mom anyway. It's like she's back on God's side and not only from my mom do i see this but i see it from many other people. Just because she sacrificed a Sunday of sleeping in or from being with the thousands of animals she loves at home so she can go to church, it's redemption. But not lasting. She'll soon feel guilty about not going and then hit it up a month or so later. She's missing out. The pain and guilt that she bears has been a burden she carries herself. It's hard to see them view the church like this.

tangible kingdom. week three.

there is very good discussion going on. this past week was the week that i wanted to push some conversation going but some other things got in the way. Had no power at my house for a few days and the church got flooded.

Continue on with the next 3 chapters and hopefully I'll be able to throw in some questions here and there. These next chapters were very intriguing and helped see our culture in a different light!

PREESH!

tangible kingdom. week two.

thoughts. opinions. ah-hah's. things you know already or agree with...

Chapter 4. U-Haul

What both excites you and scares you about the potential of a new spiritual road trip?

If Jesus were to trim down your Christian experience to his essentials, what would he remove? what would be left?

Chapter 5. Moving Violations

As you think about the church engaging the world with more than just tweaks, what expectations do you need to change, delete, or embrace?

Chapter 6. Posture

How are you willing to advocate for people while they live lives that are in opposition to the way of Christ?

If you you no longer use words to communicate the gospel, what would you do?

not to be biased about some great stuff but i believe "Posture" has the potential for some extra discussion. Let me hear your views.

tangible kingdom. week one. take two.

well i have talked with most of you and it seems as though the books don't travel quickly. so, for those of you who do have your books, i'd like to hear your thoughts. for those of you waiting we'll act as thought this is the first week and on Thursday of next week we'll go over chapters 4-6.

if you have any questions let me know.

one thing that seems to stick out in the book for me has been from the 3rd chapter. there was a guy who wrote a letter to Hugh and was telling about his struggles in the church. that he feels that an old pastor like him isn't relevant anymore and is trying to catch up with the times. Hugh's comment about the letter and many other places throughout the book is that they are all very well needed. They are the foundational pieces for the movements of change that have been happening in the church. They are the ones who have shown us Christ. They are the ones that have helped us the Kingdom.

tangible kingdom. week one.

thoughts. opinions. ah-hah's. things you already know but agree or don't agree with...

as you ponder the metaphor of the sailor, the village, the wreckage, and the people, reflect on your own experience from the church. What aspects have been meaningful, and which experiences do you hope to put behind you?

describe some times in your life when you've wanted to tap out on God and the activities of the church.

describe the last time your heart broke for someone.

Matthew 5:13 - what are some ways you believe we're losing our saltiness?

what do you think the increasing disinterest of the culture toward church means for the future of the church?

do you feel tensions about your faith?

have you noticed the Jerusalem and Galilean distinctions in your own church experience? How?

purpose with passion.

a few years back i picked up Blue Like Jazz and Through the Painted Deserts and Searching for God knows what by Donald Miller and was floored by the beauty of roaming the country in the journey of awakening. Not that there was any purpose behind it but a passion of the freedom that can be found in life. I fell in love with the Bohemian lifestyle. I never went to the extent to follow through with the way of living cause that would mean that i'd have to give up the luxury's i have gotten myself into. So it was a step that I never made. I do feel as though myself am on some wavelength there though.

A few months after reading the books by Don Miller I picked a book called On the Road by Jack Kerouac. If you haven't read it, you're missing out on some great entertainment. The similarities between those books are the searching and the enjoying of life. But both lead down different paths, maybe similar but the destination is not the same.

I've seen this journey also in the movie Into the Wild. The journey and experiences are the appealing part in it all. the freedom. love. people. Being a unique individual with knowing there are other people there to help you grow in and express your uniqueness. We're created for a purpose that is to express the glory and wonder of God.

There are a group of people who fit everything in together of this passion for life into a purpose that won't fade or come to an end with no fulfillment. I see this in the people who want to be apart of something big but don't want to be big themselves. I see this in people who long and hurt for one another. I see this in people who share each others burdens. Of all the prenotions these characters give in the books, they are all, for the most part hated by the world. or the american side of it that i know of. 

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says this: He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

I see a journey of knowing the beauty God has revealed to us but it will take far beyond the time we have here on earth or in heaven. This is the journey i seek. The beauty of the Kingdom of Heaven.