Worthwhile:March 22, 2019


Well Spring has sprung and March Madness has kicked off. How is your bracket?!





Today I am looking forward to attending the Valued Conference here in San Diego. It is for equipping the church to prevent sexual abuse and help heal where it has happened. Fathom Magazine has a nice piece about the conference and I am hoping to share reflections afterward.





A couple of items this week to enrich you and send you into the weekend. First on church membership (a favorite topic of mine and timely given last week's sermon on Awkward Community). Then some reasons to desire and seek the spiritual gifts... Word and Spirit all day over here!









The fine folks at Saturate want to equip the church to be the deepest of communities on mission where ever we are. So Nathan Cedarland invites us to see community from a new angle in the first of his posts on church membership.





I think he is tackling some important questions and will be an encouragement to you.





What does it mean to belong to a local church? Some Christians argue that if they are already members of the Universal Church then becoming a member of a local church is unnecessary or even unbiblical. On the flip side, there are some churches which seem to handle membership as an excessively complicated administrative procedure. Are our convictions about the church being a family on mission compatible with official church membership? Does our heavy emphasis on relationship make a formal membership process unnecessary or even counterproductive to the organic Spirit-led community we seek? Is there another angle on this that we’re missing? And why does it matter?









Next up is a post on Desiring God from five years ago that is as timely as ever. Bryan DeWire compiles 10 Reasons to Desire All the Spiritual Gifts. I found this helpful as I am preparing to preach on the gifts this Sunday and we want to be a church that zealously desires the gifts.





Mostly because its biblical, and because we on the road to maturity and mission we need the power of the Spirit. Check for yourself.









That's it. Have a wonderful weekend and may you see Jesus as you seek him today and always!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Artisan Disruption

This week while in Phoenix for a couple of stirring days thinking about equipping the church and living into our missional calling together I experienced artisan disruption.  The lads and I were heading to the second day of the gathering and decided to find some local coffee spot to fuel our morning. When the first stop was closed we rounded the corner into another shop that pushed against our attempts at constant efficiency.  Inside a small art gallery (which also had a hair salon) there was a coffee bar, with one barista doing more than just making drinks, he was making art. The guy had form, precision, and and exacting hand as he made each drink.  The line was out the door yet he carried on, unhurried, unhindered by demand. He was the artisan.  At first I felt out of place. After all I am the guy who drinks from carafes at Panera because I have a sip membership. So to be in a bespoke establishment pulled me out of my element to begin with. This is a discomfort I enjoy
Read more

We don't need better slogans we need to better understand grace

Admit it, you, like me have wasted entirely too much time thinking of new acronyms and poster ideas that will launch us into holiness. And all that we have achieved is lame preaching on being "better" and trying harder and the realization that we fail time and time again. We don't get grace. Matt Chandler is staring this problem in the face and calling it out. "The problem as I perceive it as a Pastor is that most of those who claim to know and love God want to see sin lose its power in their lives and walk in greater intimacy with Christ; most are exhausted and have been trying to mortify sin by promises and threats rather than through the weapons grace provides. By "promises" I mean they believe that they will have life to the “full” and get a great house in heaven if they behave in this manner or that manner..." "Another very popular sport... is fighting residual sin with our own vows and resolution—these become our defense.  In the end, you a
Read more

The Scandal of Free Turtles

Image
My son has/had a couple of turtles. Red-eared sliders who thankfully resided at my dear Aunt's place in town. In her spoiling of my children, somehow turtles were purchased and nurtured. We saw these turtles every week and they were very well taken care of.  Then my beloved Aunt decides to move to Arizona. The plan had long been that once we bought a house the turtles would reside with us in a pond of some sort on our property. But as the inevitable transition approached we balked and my Aunt set out to find a new home for Fred and Percy.  This brings us to our scandalous story.  My Aunt arranged for the turtles to live in a pond, in a gated community, in the back yard of a local dentist. We set out on Sunday to meet and send off the turtles to their new home. But as we arrived at the gate, the doctor was not answering her phone and we didn't know how to get in.  After some time someone drove in and our cars quickly followed through the open gate. Parking at the house the secon
Read more