tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65493258182795870032024-02-20T01:41:22.818-08:00LukeTaylor.infoBlog and Information from Luke TaylorLuke Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03322234782513404248noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6549325818279587003.post-7362322926652161602011-02-25T08:33:00.000-08:002011-02-25T08:36:39.876-08:0010 Ways to Become a Plastic Church by Chad Missildine - ChurchLeaders.com - Christian Leadership Blogs, Articles, Videos, How To's, and Free Resources<a href="http://www.churchleaders.com/outreach-missions/outreach-missions-how-tos/148824-10-ways-to-become-a-plastic-church.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily-Update">10 Ways to Become a Plastic Church by Chad Missildine - ChurchLeaders.com - Christian Leadership Blogs, Articles, Videos, How To's, and Free Resources</a><br />
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<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><strong>What is a Plastic Church?</strong> A Plastic Church is a church that looks like church from the outside: building, services, staff, etc. Who knows, there may even be a steeple! <em>On the inside, however, the Plastic Church barely resembles a church at all.</em> No real community of believers, no prayer, no real concern for people, no application of Scripture in real life, no transformation. These are all signs of a real, authentic church. Could you have a Plastic Church or be on your way?</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br />
</span></strong></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">Here are 10 Ways to Become a Plastic Church:</span></strong></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br />
</span></strong></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><strong>1. De-value authenticity</strong>. Don’t create an environment where people can come as they are, baggage and all. This is easy when you, the church leader, are not authentic and genuine. Act like you have it all together, and everyone else will act the same way!</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br />
</span></strong></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><strong>2. Don’t push people to serve out of obedience to Jesus.</strong>Talk instead about what’s in it for them. Better yet, don’t encourage people to serve at all.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br />
</span></strong></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><strong>3. Be a fake Follower of Christ.</strong> There is no better way to have a fake church than to be a fake follower of Christ as a church leader. Talk the talk, but don’t get off your tail to walk the walk. Be a Plastic Church leader.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br />
</span></strong></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><strong>4. Don’t ever talk about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.</strong> Stay instead on the perimeter- the safe stuff. You don’t want to get into confronting people with their need for relationship with God. Smells like Plastic.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br />
</span></strong></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><strong>5. Don’t be relevant at all.</strong> Instead, confuse people with your lofty scriptural explanations. Make it so complex that only the spiritually elite like you can follow. Make application of Scripture a low priority and your methods of teaching the highest priority. Make people depend on you as a leader instead of empowering them. For bonus points, show off all your Greek and make people feel guilty for not knowing as much as you.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br />
</span></strong></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><strong>6. Care more about your agenda than about honoring and loving people.</strong> Push, push, push your church-centric agenda. Don’t respect and honor the role your people have in the community, in their neighborhoods, in their workplace, and in their families. Make it all about the four church walls. This has Plastic Church written all over it!</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br />
</span></strong></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><strong>7. Make spiritual growth a low priority</strong>. Spiritual growth is so tough to track, why even bother? Focus instead on the programs you’ve been running for the last decade. They are way more predictable than diving into a new arena like authentic spiritual growth. Plastic.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br />
</span></strong></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><strong>8. Don’t invite God into the picture.</strong> Instead, create everything out of your wisdom, your resources, your understanding. Christ as head of the church? Forget that, you’re the head, baby! Take it and run with it.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br />
</span></strong></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><strong>9. Don’t talk to other churches or community organizations.</strong> You are too busy, too important, and have too many of the answers. Everybody should only think about your church and your name, not what God may be doing down the street.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br />
</span></strong></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><strong>10. Do all the talking.</strong> You do all the talking, all the time. After all, it’s your show, right? Don’t think at all about using other message resources, telling stories through video, letting others cast vision. People need you; they want you. You. You. You. Plastic.</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #f3f3f3;">Do you see these in the church today?</span></div>Luke Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03322234782513404248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6549325818279587003.post-49626127897715147682011-01-29T13:44:00.000-08:002011-01-29T13:38:12.876-08:0012 bizarre real-life places that are stranger than science fiction<div><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><br></div></blockquote><div></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><div></div><div><h1 style="color: rgb(107, 48, 146); font-family: helvetica; font-size: 24px; ">12 bizarre real-life places that are stranger than science fiction</h1><p><img style="width: 752px; height: auto; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); ">Science fiction is home to some fantastic societies, from Cloud City to Bartertown. But you doesn't have to leave reality for this—our own world has places so abnormal, they make alien societies seem ordinary.</span></p><p>Here are 12 remarkable locations in which people once lived (and some still do).</p><p><br></p><h3>1. Izu Islands</h3><p></p><p><a href="http://blastr.com/assets_c/2011/01/IzuIslands012811-56271.php"><img src="http://blastr.com/assets_c/2011/01/IzuIslands012811-thumb-330x247-56271.jpg" width="330" height="247" alt="IzuIslands012811.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="width: 752px; height: auto; "></a></p><p>Off the coast of Japan lies a series of volcanic islands. Due to the air being full of sulphur, they were evacuated as recently as 2000. However, citizens moved back, despite having to wear gas masks for most of their day. This is mainly due to a pension provided by scientists studying the debilitating effects of the environment. When the alien zombie virus hits Earth, these will probably be the only people left alive.</p><p><br></p><h3>2. Neft Daslari</h3><p></p><p><a href="http://blastr.com/assets_c/2011/01/NeftDaslari012811-56274.php"><img src="http://blastr.com/assets_c/2011/01/NeftDaslari012811-thumb-330x247-56274.jpg" width="330" height="247" alt="NeftDaslari012811.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="width: 752px; height: auto; "></a></p><p>Neft Daslari is a functional city built 34 miles from the nearest shore. Located in Azerbaijan, the town began as an oil platform before growing into the sprawling megaplex it is today. It kind of resembles one of those apocalyptic Kevin Costner films, except it's not called "Oil World" and it doesn't go on forever.</p><p><br></p><h3>3. Sedlec Ossuary</h3><p></p><p><a href="http://blastr.com/assets_c/2011/01/SedlecOssuary012811-56277.php"><img src="http://blastr.com/assets_c/2011/01/SedlecOssuary012811-thumb-330x439-56277.jpg" width="330" height="439" alt="SedlecOssuary012811.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="width: 752px; height: auto; "></a></p><p>One of the creepiest places on Earth, Sedlec Ossuary is a Roman Catholic chapel in the Czech Republic. A popular burial site for nearly 1,000 years, the church eventually found itself with a bone storage problem. In 1870, a man was hired to arrange the bones, and he made the whole thing look like the love child of LEGOs and death metal.</p><p><br></p><h3>4. Coober Pedy</h3><p></p><p><a href="http://blastr.com/assets_c/2011/01/CooberPedy012811-56282.php"><img src="http://blastr.com/assets_c/2011/01/CooberPedy012811-thumb-330x244-56282.jpg" width="330" height="244" alt="CooberPedy012811.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="width: 752px; height: auto; "></a></p><p>Temperatures in this Australian mining town reach well into broiling, so the opal miners who live there have built most of their town underground. Attractions include subterranean chapels, a metal tree and a golf course open only at night. This town is our first warning system against an invasion of Mole People. (More great pics <a href="http://www.outback-australia-travel-secrets.com/coober-pedy-pictures.html">here</a>.)</p><p><br></p><h3>5. Centralia, Pennsylvania</h3><p></p><p><a href="http://blastr.com/assets_c/2011/01/Centralia012811-56285.php"><img src="http://blastr.com/assets_c/2011/01/Centralia012811-thumb-330x282-56285.jpg" width="330" height="282" alt="Centralia012811.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="width: 752px; height: auto; "></a></p><p>In 1962, a huge underground coal deposit ignited beneath the town of Centralia, Pa. It has been burning steadily ever since. Still, the hearty town residents stuck around until 1981, when sinkholes forced a near-total evacuation (probably because drunk people kept trying to pee on the fire).</p><p><br></p><h3>6. Gate Tower Building</h3><br><br><a href="http://blastr.com/assets_c/2011/01/GateTowerBuilding012811-56288.php"><img src="http://blastr.com/assets_c/2011/01/GateTowerBuilding012811-thumb-330x552-56288.jpg" width="330" height="552" alt="GateTowerBuilding012811.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="width: 752px; height: auto; "></a><p></p><p>It's funny how something as boring as zoning regulations could lead to one of the most exciting office buildings on the planet. A conflict between highway builders and skyscraper builders led to a unique compromise and an eye-popping piece of architecture. The highway is completely separated from the tower; otherwise the entire building would be constanty vibrating. Building employees are encouraged not to spit out the window.</p><p><br></p><h3>7. Barcelona Supercomputing Center</h3><p></p><p><a href="http://blastr.com/assets_c/2011/01/BarcelonaSupercomputingCenter012811-56291.php"><img src="http://blastr.com/assets_c/2011/01/BarcelonaSupercomputingCenter012811-thumb-330x239-56291.jpg" width="330" height="239" alt="BarcelonaSupercomputingCenter012811.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="width: 752px; height: auto; "></a></p><p>Inside a spectacular Spanish church sits an enormous glass box. Inside that glass box is one of the world's fastest supercomputers. The public research center provides invaluable data to the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science. We argued against this, insisting the computer would become sentient and attempt to start a brutal religious regime.</p><p><br></p><h3>8. Thames Town</h3><p></p><p><a href="http://blastr.com/assets_c/2011/01/ThamesTown012811-56294.php"><img src="http://blastr.com/assets_c/2011/01/ThamesTown012811-thumb-330x247-56294.jpg" width="330" height="247" alt="ThamesTown012811.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="width: 752px; height: auto; "></a></p><p>Nestled near Shanghai, China, is a quaint-yet-fully-functional re-creation of a classic English market town. This is just the start, as plans call for similar towns themed after Sweden, Italy, Holland, German, traditional Chinese, Spain, the United States and an ecologically-themed town. That's a lot of different places to stash No. 6 from <em>The Prisoner</em>.</p><p><br></p><h3>9. Manshiyat Naser</h3><p></p><p><a href="http://blastr.com/assets_c/2011/01/ManshiyatNaser012811-56297.php"><img src="http://blastr.com/assets_c/2011/01/ManshiyatNaser012811-thumb-330x220-56297.jpg" width="330" height="220" alt="ManshiyatNaser012811.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="width: 752px; height: auto; "></a></p><p>On the edge of Cairo lies a community whose entire economic system centers around collecting and sorting garbage. The bustling area has shops, houses and even the largest church in the Middle East. We're also guessing it probably has some of the largest homemade forts in the Middle East, too.</p><p><br></p><h3>10. Linfen</h3><p></p><p><a href="http://blastr.com/assets_c/2011/01/Linfen012811-56300.php"><img src="http://blastr.com/assets_c/2011/01/Linfen012811-thumb-330x261-56300.jpg" width="330" height="261" alt="Linfen012811.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="width: 752px; height: auto; "></a></p><p>Originally nicknamed "the modern fruit and flower town," this Chinese city was home to the worst pollution of any metropolis on Earth. Before reform, belching coal plants continuously choked out the sun and citizens often had difficulty seeing their own hands. A crackdown on pollution and a switch to natural gas has resulted in dramatic improvements to air quality, which means citizens no longer have to wear black every day.</p><p><br></p><h3>11. Karni Mata, Temple of the Rats</h3><p></p><p><a href="http://blastr.com/assets_c/2011/01/KarniMata012811-56303.php"><img src="http://blastr.com/assets_c/2011/01/KarniMata012811-thumb-330x253-56303.jpg" width="330" height="253" alt="KarniMata012811.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="width: 752px; height: auto; "></a></p><p>This Indian temple is home to the belief that reincarnation occurs as a rat. As such, thousands of rats roam freely among worshippers. Being barefoot is a must, probably because shoes are the rat's natural arch-nemesis.</p><p><br></p><h3>12. Kowloon Walled City</h3><p></p><p><a href="http://blastr.com/assets_c/2011/01/Kowloon012811-56306.php"><img src="http://blastr.com/assets_c/2011/01/Kowloon012811-thumb-330x237-56306.jpg" width="330" height="237" alt="Kowloon012811.jpg" class="mt-image-center" style="width: 752px; height: auto; "></a></p><p>Due to an invasion by squatters, lawmakers turned a blind eye to this section of China from 1947 until 1973. Notorious for being completely run by gangs, the lack of building codes created haphazard structures never seen before. The sun never touched many of the narrow streets until the city was demolished in 1994. This was as close to lawlessness as non-celebrities could ever get.</p><br>Sent from my iPad</div></div></blockquote>Luke Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03322234782513404248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6549325818279587003.post-27242083867250670762010-12-17T03:35:00.000-08:002010-12-17T03:33:34.722-08:00Getting ready for Christmas<div></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "><font size="2" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">So today is my last day in the office before I get to spend some time off! Soul Survivor Extra is done and on tape. I think it's come together really well – hope that people enjoy it when it's broadcast. It's a good look behind what Soul Survivor is all about, why it exists and the difference that it makes. I really encourage people to send their youth groups – lives get changed.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "><font size="2" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">Anyway… I'm about to go for my company Christmas meal and then I'm done. I should really turn my attention now to the message for our Christmas Eve Meeting. I'm excited about this one, we've never really done something on Christmas Eve at our church to my recollection – but it is a great time for potential outreach and to come together as a church family. There may even be mince pies!<o:p></o:p></span></font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); "><font size="2" face="Arial"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; ">Right, I need to finish off this Message from last year's Soul Survivor then I can go enjoy some <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Turkey</st1:country-region></st1:place>!</span></font></p></div>Luke Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03322234782513404248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6549325818279587003.post-54001955625768125542010-10-26T06:06:00.001-07:002010-10-26T06:06:09.060-07:00When we first went to Bede<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/55122342@N03/5117061069/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1053/5117061069_4852483104_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/55122342@N03/5117061069/">IMG_2647</a> <br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/55122342@N03/">newlifebillingham</a></span><br clear="all" /><p>Just looking at some photos of our first day over at bede. It's amazing how much has happened since then.<br />Numbers are on the rise, which is great - but on top of that I really think it's raised our game as a church. It's nearly a year now since we made the decision to move.<br />It makes me wonder... where next?</p>Luke Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03322234782513404248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6549325818279587003.post-86037715960802044742010-09-01T11:05:00.000-07:002010-09-01T11:05:26.455-07:00Playing the numbers game<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">This is an interesting article:</span><br />
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<a href="http://theresurgence.com/justification-by-attendance"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">http://theresurgence.com/justification-by-attendance</span></span></a><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">It made me think a bit about the focus on number. How important an indicator are numbers of a success in ministry? Clearly active members is more important than numbers - but as it says here, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">"We count people because people count"</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Playing the numbers game can be tough on a church as it can bring discouragement or pride. But the key is to remember that the focus is the people, not the numbers. You want to see people grow and develop in their relationship with God. BUT - you want do to that with as many people as possible.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">We can't avoid keeping check on numbers. It's important to know how many people are attending and to see that number go up. Otherwise we are not reaching people. But we cannot forget, numbers don't necessarily mean disciples.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">A good thing to remember, "Every number is a person. But every person is not a number"</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">What do you think? How important are numbers?</span></span>Luke Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03322234782513404248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6549325818279587003.post-20105598189932615512010-07-13T03:35:00.000-07:002010-07-13T03:35:24.301-07:00Dead Sea Mud<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hjKNh6mR6kI/TDxBavbikKI/AAAAAAAABb0/3ut5EAV-DOU/s1600/FacebookHomescreenImage.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; FLOAT: left; CLEAR: both" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_hjKNh6mR6kI/TDxBavbikKI/AAAAAAAABb0/3ut5EAV-DOU/s320/FacebookHomescreenImage.jpg" /></a>I was just looking through my pictures from Israel taken a few months ago. And I just saw this and it made me wonder. They tell usthat dead sea mud is really god for you with all it's minerals and so on and I'm sure it is.<br />My skin felt great after all the mud soaking and I was sure to buy Emilia lots of product that I've also used in secret.<br />But I can't escape the fact that I was essentially rolling around in mud. Is there any other circumstance in life where I could get away with rolling aorund in mud and NOT get disapproved of?<br />I couldn't really get away with this, even in my garden. And it seems a bit of a shame. Rolling around in the mud was actually a lot of fun, even if it hadn't have been good for my skin. As a child I wouldn't have thought twice about it.<br />There was something about the place and the experience that just reminded me of the 80s. I wasnt sure what it was, but I think it's the way it made me feel. Like a child again. I wish more mud was medicinal....<div style='clear:both; text-align:LEFT'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Luke Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03322234782513404248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6549325818279587003.post-1981150272743739652010-04-09T01:48:00.000-07:002010-04-09T01:49:25.488-07:00A Preacher With His Bible | TheResurgence<a href="http://theresurgence.com/a-preacher-with-his-Bible">A Preacher With His Bible | TheResurgence</a><br />
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Interesting Article... good pointsLuke Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03322234782513404248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6549325818279587003.post-71637736322920451952010-03-30T04:06:00.000-07:002010-03-30T04:06:20.384-07:006 Preaching & Teaching Tips for Easter6 Preaching & Teaching Tips for Easter<br />
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Some good advice from mark Driscoll: <br />
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For most churches, Easter is the biggest Sunday of the year. It is an occasion to celebrate the resurrection victory of Jesus Christ over Satan, sin, death, hell, and the wrath of God, while also seeing lost sheep return home and lost people become Christians. For some preachers, though, it is a difficult time because they struggle with the weight and pressure of preaching an Easter sermon in fresh ways year after year. Having now preached on every Easter at Mars Hill Church since 1996, I relate, and I would like to offer the following six preaching tips for Easter in hopes of serving those who serve others by preaching and teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. <br />
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1. Keep your Easter message short.<br />
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It is very difficult to get children’s workers on Easter because so many of your key people want to bring family, friends, and coworkers to church and then go enjoy brunch or some special time together. So, it is wise to do the Easter service “family style” with no childcare. This gives your kids’ workers a day off, allows you to turn services around more quickly (as Easter requires multiple services for many churches), and also allows the service to be uniquely fun. For little kids, perhaps some crayons and coloring sheets as gifts would be helpful. Let the parents know in advance that the service will be short, that some noise from the kids is welcome—indeed, the sound of children is a good sign of God’s grace and the church’s future—and that there will be lots of singing and celebration that the kids will enjoy. So, keep your Easter sermon short. <br />
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2. Keep your Easter message simple.<br />
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Easter is not a time to get fancy. The goal of the Easter sermon is not to impress your people with your oratory skills, your Greek syntax expertise, or your clever cultural insight. Easter is a time to boldly, loudly, passionately, gladly, and publicly proclaim the resurrection of Jesus Christ! So, keep your Easter sermon simple. Hearing the good news of Jesus is something your people will delight in if the Holy Spirit resides in them, so make it plain. They know you will tell them Jesus is alive, they are coming to hear it, and it sounds good every time, much like a wife whose husband often tells her he loves her and is devoted to her—she never tires of hearing it and rejoices every time.<br />
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3. Keep your Easter message invitational.<br />
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Make sure to clearly, winsomely, persuasively, and passionately invite people to repent of sin and trust in Jesus as God, Lord, and Savior during your sermon. Do not assume that everyone in attendance is a Christian, or assume that they will figure out salvation by themselves. Be an agent of the Holy Spirit who instructs people about the finished work of Jesus and what it means to repent of sin and trust in him for new life. Be bold, take a risk, and do the work of an evangelist like Paul commands.<br />
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4. Keep your Easter message special.<br />
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For believers during the Old Covenant era, Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) was referred to simply as “the Day.” For Christians, the chain of events from Jesus’ crucifixion on Good Friday to his resurrection on Easter Sunday is the fulfillment of Yom Kippur. This makes Easter “the Day.” To celebrate the Day, the entire Easter service should be special. Some examples of special aspects to incorporate are a greatly decorated stage, fantastic joyful songs to sing, and a choir. Also, everyone on stage should be dressed up for the special occasion (for casual churches like Mars Hill, this is particularly noteworthy, and so I always wear a full suit, including a tie, on Easter and request that all our elders-pastors do the same). <br />
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In addition, you should baptize people to show the personal application of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ in our place for our sins. At Mars Hill, we baptize more people on Easter than any other time of the year. Some people sign up to be baptized in advance and come ready to share their salvation story in a few minutes from the stage during the service. Others are invited to repent of sin, trust in Jesus, and be baptized on the spot, and it is not uncommon to see men in suits and women in Easter dresses being baptized in response to the power of the gospel. We do baptisms after the sermon while taking communion and singing loudly together. We even like to have the bapto-cam positioned to show people going in and out of the water on the screens for everyone to see. On the Day, people are singing, crying, laughing, and cheering after the sermon. The celebration of changed lives erupts into something of a sanctified resurrection party. I would encourage every pastor to do something similar.<br />
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5. Keep your Easter message personal.<br />
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Before we preach or teach, those entrusted with this high honor need to first have a deep encounter with God the Holy Spirit to ignite in us an ever-deepening thankfulness and passion for the living Jesus. In the week before you preach, you will be busy with all the details of services for Good Friday and Easter Sunday, plus the family plans you must juggle with your ministry responsibilities. So, it is imperative that you intentionally set aside some sacred silence and solitude time to get with Jesus and remember his death, burial, and resurrection in place of sin for salvation. During that time it is good to read your Bible, repent of your sin, pray, invite the Holy Spirit to meet with you, read a good Christian book on the gospel, sing, and journal what God reveals to you. It is good to remind yourself of who you would be and what your life would be like had Jesus not saved you. It would also be beneficial to remind yourself of the evidences of God’s grace you have witnessed in your own life, family, and ministry because of Jesus’ death and resurrection.<br />
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Personally, I like to think of those people who have shed tears over sin they have committed and sins that have been committed against them and picture Jesus wiping every tear from their eye on the other side of resurrection as Scripture promises. I like to think of those people I know who are disabled one day being free to run and leap for joy on the other side of the resurrection. And I remember the deceased whom I love and I look forward to seeing them again on the day when we rise together to walk into the kingdom that never ends.<br />
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6. Keep your Easter message biblical.<br />
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Most importantly, your Easter sermon must be biblical because the Word of God about the Son of God is the means by which the power of God is unleashed to transform lives by the Spirit of God. The following list of Old and New Testament Scriptures regarding resurrection is by no means exhaustive, but is offered in hope of helping preachers and teachers find a section of Scripture in which to root their Easter sermon:<br />
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•Genesis 22:13 and Hebrews 11:19 show how the story of Isaac is a type of the resurrection. <br />
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•2 Samuel 7:7–16 contains the Davidic Covenant, which promises that Jesus will rule over an everlasting kingdom, and Romans 1:3–4 shows the fulfillment as God the Father anointed God the Son as Davidic king at his resurrection. <br />
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•Psalm 16:10 promises that Jesus would not be abandoned in the grave. <br />
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•Isaiah 26:19 promises that the dead will rise. <br />
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•Isaiah 52:13–53:12 is the entire prophetic promise of Jesus’ life, death, burial, and resurrection, with the resurrection emphasized in 53:10–12. <br />
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•Ezekiel 37:1–10 gives an illustration of the resurrection of the dead.<br />
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•Daniel 12:2 is one of the clearest Old Testament Scriptures on the bodily resurrection of believers and unbelievers.<br />
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•Hosea 13:14 speaks of resurrection victory over death and is quoted by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15. <br />
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•Jonah 1:17 and 2:10 and Matthew 12:40 speak of Jonah’s three days in the fish as a type of Jesus’ resurrection after three days in the grave. <br />
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•Matthew 9:18–26 records Jesus resuscitating a young girl from death (unlike resurrection, in which the risen never dies again, resuscitation is followed by a second physical death). This passage could be used to show how one day Jesus will also cause believers to rise from death, despite mockery from the world as Jesus experienced at that event. <br />
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•Matthew 11:1–6 records that, as evidence of his divinity for John the Baptizer, Jesus appealed to the fact that he could raise the dead.<br />
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•Matthew 12:38–40; Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:33–34; and John 2:18–22 all reveal Jesus prophesying his resurrection in advance.<br />
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•Matthew 22:23; Luke 20:27; and Acts 23:8 all report that the Sadducees denied the resurrection in arguments with Jesus.<br />
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•Matthew 28:9 and John 20:17, 20–28 all report that Jesus rose physically from death, not just spiritually.<br />
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•Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all close with large sections reporting the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from death, and any of them, or portions from them, could make a good Easter sermon.<br />
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•Luke 14:12–14 is a parable Jesus told about the repayment that will come to the just at the resurrection. <br />
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•John 5:19–29 records Jesus teaching that we will stand before him for final judgment and rise for eternal life or eternal death.<br />
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•John 11:1–44 records the death of Lazarus and Jesus resuscitating him from death. Jesus also declares himself to be the resurrection and the life who can also raise us from death.<br />
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•Twelve of the twenty-eight chapters in the book of Acts report that the continual refrain of the preaching in the early church was that Jesus had risen from death, and all or some of these sermon snippets could make a good Easter sermon.<br />
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•Acts 9 reports the dramatic conversion of Saul—who had overseen the murder of the early church deacon Stephen—when he was confronted with the risen Jesus.<br />
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•Acts 17:32; 23:6; and 24:11–15 report how belief in the resurrection can result in mockery and persecution. <br />
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•Romans 4:25 connects Jesus’ resurrection and our justification.<br />
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•Romans 6:5 says that we are united with Jesus by his resurrection. <br />
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•Romans 8:1–11 speaks of the new power we have, through the Holy Spirit, to say no to sin and yes to God because of Jesus’ resurrection.<br />
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•Romans 8:11 and 2 Corinthians 5:15 say that believers have the same power as Jesus did for his resurrection through God the Holy Spirit. <br />
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•Romans 10:5–13 speaks of how to be saved through Jesus’ resurrection. <br />
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•Romans 14:8–12 describes how Jesus is Lord of the dead and the living because he was dead and is now alive.<br />
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•1 Corinthians 15 is arguably the most comprehensive treatment of resurrection in all of Scripture. While one sermon on the entire chapter would likely be impossible, there are innumerable options that could be emphasized in an Easter sermon. <br />
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•2 Corinthians 5:1–10 teaches about the state between death and resurrection as well as the kind of body we will have after resurrection.<br />
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•In Galatians 1:1–2, Paul declares that the resurrected Jesus Christ gave Paul his apostolic authority. <br />
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•Ephesians 2:1–10 explains how we are dead in sin but made alive in Christ through his resurrection. <br />
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•In Philippians 3:1–11, Paul teaches that the resurrection is infinitely better than religion.<br />
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•Colossians 1:15–20 speaks of the preeminence of the risen Jesus over every created thing. <br />
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•Colossians 2:6–15 and 3:1 say that we have been raised with Christ. <br />
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•1 Thessalonians 1:2–10 encourages Christians to wait patiently for the second coming of the risen Jesus. <br />
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•1 Thessalonians 4:16 teaches us that at the second coming of Jesus Christ, the dead in Christ will rise like him to be with him. <br />
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•2 Timothy 2:1–13 reveals Paul using the resurrection of Jesus Christ as motivation for a life of faithful ministry in the midst of suffering and trial. <br />
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•2 Timothy 2:17–18 actually names false teachers who denied the resurrection, and Paul declares them to be heretics for doing so.<br />
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•Hebrews 6:1–2 lists the doctrine of the resurrection among the most elemental and essential of Christian truths to learn.<br />
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•Hebrews 13:20–21 reminds us that the same God who raised Jesus from death is faithful to keep his promises to his people as well. <br />
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•1 Peter 1:3–9 speaks of the inheritance that Jesus has purchased for us through his resurrection and how our suffering in this life reminds us of him until we rise in his kingdom. <br />
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•1 Peter 3:21–22 and Romans 6:5 explain how the Christian act of baptism shows us the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, which cleanses us from sin. <br />
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•1 John 3:2 says that a Christian’s resurrection body will be like Jesus’ risen body. <br />
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•Revelation 1:17–18 reveals Jesus as the Alpha and Omega who was dead and is now alive.Luke Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03322234782513404248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6549325818279587003.post-90841978988888205432010-03-02T02:55:00.000-08:002010-03-02T02:55:04.149-08:005 Big Issues facing the churchI recently came across this - it was posted on the Resurgance, from Tim Keller's blog. It's quite interesting. What do we as the church need to do in order to face the big issues that we will be facing?<br />
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1. The opportunity for extensive culture-making in the U.S.<br />
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In an interview, sociologist Peter Berger observed that in the U.S. evangelicals are shifting from being largely a blue-collar constituency to becoming a college educated population. <br />
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His question is, will Christians going into the arts, business, government, the media, and film<br />
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•assimilate to the existing baseline cultural narratives so they become in their views and values the same as other secular professionals and elites? <br />
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•seal off and privatize their faith from their work so that, effectively, they do not do their work in any distinctive way? <br />
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•or will they do enough new Christian 'culture-making' in their fields to change things? <br />
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2. The rise of Islam<br />
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How do Christians relate to Muslims when we live side by side in the same society? The record in places like Africa and the Middle East is not encouraging! This is more of an issue for the Western church in Europe than in the U.S., but it is going to be a growing concern in America as well. <br />
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How can Christians be at the very same time a) good neighbors, seeking their good whether they convert or not, and still b) attractively and effectively invite Muslims to consider the gospel?<br />
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3. The new non-Western Global Christianity<br />
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The demographic center of Christian gravity has already shifted from the West to Asia, Latin America, and Africa. The rising urban churches of China may be particularly influential in the future. But the West still has the educational institutions, the money, and a great deal of power. <br />
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What should the relationship of the older Western churches be to the new non-Western church? How can we use our assets to serve them in ways that are not paternalistic? How can we learn from them in more than perfunctory ways?<br />
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4. The growing cultural remoteness of the gospel<br />
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The basic concepts of the gospel—sin, guilt and accountability before God, the sacrifice of the cross, human nature, afterlife—are becoming culturally strange in the West for the first time in 1500 years. As Lesslie Newbigin has written, it is time now to 'think like a missionary'—to formulate ways of communicating the gospel that both confront and engage our increasingly non-Christian Western culture.<br />
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How do we make the gospel culturally accessible without compromising it? How can we communicate it and live it in a way that is comprehensible to people who lack the basic 'mental furniture' to even understand the essential truths of the Bible? <br />
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5. The end of prosperity?<br />
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With the economic meltdown, the question is, will housing values, endowments, profits, salaries, and investments go back to growing at the same rates as they have for the last twenty-five years, or will growth be relatively flat for many years to come? If so, how does the Western church, which has become habituated to giving out of fast-increasing assets, adjust in the way it carries out ministry? For example, American ministry is now highly professionalized—church staffs are far larger than they were two generations ago, when a church of 1,000 was only expected to have, perhaps, two pastors and a couple of other part-time staff. Today such a church would have probably eight to ten full-time staff members.<br />
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Also, how should the stewardship message adjust? If discretionary assets are one-half of what they were, more risky, sacrificial giving will be necessary to do even less ministry than we have been doing. <br />
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On top of this, if we experience even one significant act of nuclear or bio-terrorism in the U.S. or Europe, we may have to throw out all the basic assumptions about social and economic progress we have been working off for the last 65 years. In the first half of the 20th century, we had two World Wars and a Depression. Is the church ready for that? How could it be? What does that mean?<br />
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Copyright © 2010 by Tim Keller.Luke Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03322234782513404248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6549325818279587003.post-17209768757678506702010-02-11T06:48:00.000-08:002010-02-11T06:48:38.133-08:00Soup Week<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hjKNh6mR6kI/S3QYxOxdv7I/AAAAAAAAAt4/oV9wBPMTTsE/s1600-h/photo.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CLEAR: both" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hjKNh6mR6kI/S3QYxOxdv7I/AAAAAAAAAt4/oV9wBPMTTsE/s320/photo.jpg" /></a><br />Soup Week<br /><br />So this week I'm trying to loose weight... and I'm having a lot of soup for lunch... well, not a lot - just having it every day.<br /><br />I bought enough for 4 days, but forgot to bring some today. Thankfully Jamie had some spare... ham and pea.... this is a picture of it. NOw is it just me, or does that look unusually solid for soup?<br /><br />I do feel a lot less bloated with soup for lunch every day. In fact it does feel like it's making a difference... but, my goodness - it's depressing. I'm craving solid food.<br /><br />Wonder how long I can keep this up. I currently weight 12 and a half stone... which sounds light until you see that I'm only 5ft 5. I think 11 is a good target... will the soup get me there?<div style='clear:both; text-align:RIGHT'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Luke Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03322234782513404248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6549325818279587003.post-23664103677580515182010-02-10T07:21:00.000-08:002010-02-10T11:27:18.089-08:00Masquerade Ball<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hjKNh6mR6kI/S3LPFeKe3uI/AAAAAAAAAtw/Q5Y71hKujM4/s1600-h/IMG_1419.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hjKNh6mR6kI/S3LPFeKe3uI/AAAAAAAAAtw/Q5Y71hKujM4/s320/IMG_1419.JPG" /></a> </div><br />Masquerade Balls.... strange things. You go to so much effort with your masks, ours here were home made and took a fair while to do. Then you wear a nice suit or dress... then feel very odd when you put a mask on.<br />Then you get to the party and realsie that if you actually wear the mask you will fall over a lot and can't really eat. So you have to take it off... and then where can you put it? I think mine ended up back in the car.<br /><br />Fun... but curious.<div style="clear:both; text-align:CENTER"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Luke Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03322234782513404248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6549325818279587003.post-40720339154257590482009-09-28T06:29:00.001-07:002009-09-28T06:29:39.537-07:00Me at the Whitehouse<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidluketaylor/3962665304/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2465/3962665304_2950527c6c.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidluketaylor/3962665304/">Me at the Whitehouse</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/davidluketaylor/">davidluketaylor</a>.</span></div><p>I took a little visit to the Whitehouse before catching the plane. There was a fair bit of hustle and bustle going on - it seems someone was making a movie or a TV programme there.<br />Not sure what it was, although I'd been standing around looking dopey before I realised I was in the back of shot. I then saw a sign saying that by standing there I was giving up my right to not have my image used. It wasn't made awfully clear I thought, but that seemed to be all the notice that they needed to give. Interesting...<br />Security was a big higher because of all this - those snipers on the roof looked really prominent. It's strange really - standing around taking pictures of yourself suddenly makes you wonder if you are acting suspiciously when you are in the presence of snipers....</p>Luke Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03322234782513404248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6549325818279587003.post-15278611658579924532009-07-31T08:44:00.000-07:002009-07-31T08:45:20.489-07:00Do we get it all a bit backwards?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px; "><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">I think most of us do church in around the same sort of format. Our styles or music and preaching and interaction may all be very different, but generally we use a similar format, with perhaps some variations.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">But I’ve been wondering a bit recently, are our meetings… well a bit backwards? Is the order slightly wrong?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">Let me elaborate. Out meetings usually follow this order (or something similar) Welcome and prayer, Praise songs, Notices, Worship songs, Breaking of bread, Worship songs, Word, Final prayer and final song. Give or take a bit that’s a pretty fair run down of how most churches have their meetings.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">Now for me, there are some things in this that perhaps are not the best that we could do. First of all is the word. Everything flows out of the word of God. It’s the first thing mention in the list in Acts 2 when the fellowship of the believers is “Devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles”. Everything comes out of the teaching of the word – worship after all is a response to His glory and goodness.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">The trouble is we structure the meetings with “the word” as the main event. It’s something that the rest of the meeting leads up to. I think worship suffers as a result of this: I‘m sure everyone has experienced one of these; People arriving 20mins later during the worship “but it’s ok as they are here before the message starts”, An amazing time of worship cut short because the preacher needs to get up, aimless worship that really doesn’t connect with the word that’s going to be brought, interruptions from the notices that totally ruin the flow of the worship. I could go on.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">Can I suggest that the reason that worship sometimes seemed rushed, or just an opening to the meeting or short changed in some way is that the best place for worship in a meeting is NOT before the word?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">Worship after all is a response to Him. How much more meaningful worship is when we’ve got something to respond to. Whatever it is that the word brings, a call to repentance, an encouragement, a challenge – worship feeds of these things and a good worship leader can run off the back of a message and make the worship relevant to its context.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">We’ve tried this a few times before, keeping the main body of worship until after the word and it really ignites. Could it be that the reason that we have worship before the word is because we always have done?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">I’ve been encouraged a lot recently by this question – if you could do everything again from scratch, would you do it the same? And of course if the answer is no, why not change it NOW?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">How about breaking bread? This fits into the time of worship, so in our church it takes place before the word. But surely communion is a time when we examine ourselves. Where we deal with issues. But yet our issues have not really been challenged yet in perhaps the way they will be later in a meeting during a word. Surely communion is something that should be done after the word, after a response and a time of repentance. Again, if the worship took place at this time then the two would still fit together.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">No longer would the time of worship feel short changed by the Word, but instead it can thrive off the back of it. You don’t have people checking their watches if the speaker goes a few minutes over he should, because this no longer signifies the end of a meeting – but instead it’s the start of the worship. It’s amazing how little people look at their watches during a great time of worship.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">I’m not suggesting for one second that this is the way we <i><span style="font-style: italic; ">have</span></i> to do it. However I am wondering if perhaps having the main body of worship after the word is beneficial to both elements. Do we only have the structure we have out of habit, or because the people may have to adjust to something different? Just a thought….</span></span></p></span>Luke Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03322234782513404248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6549325818279587003.post-11581286142425403532009-06-19T09:20:00.001-07:002009-06-19T09:20:11.525-07:00ApplicationPreaching can sometimes seem like a futile exercise. You can pour your heart and soul into a message that you believe is from God, deliver it with all the passion you can matter – people can really enjoy it… but then a week later nothing has changed. It’s either been forgotten or put to one side the second the meeting ended.<br />Now I’m not saying that it’s always like this, there are results that are seen. But considering most Christians are at church at least once a week – that amount of change that we see in people’s lives from that is proportionately low.<br />Why is this? People can listen to a message and have every intention of doing something about it, but then go away and perhaps the desire fades a little, other concerns creep in. And perhaps there is difficulty sometimes in actually following through.<br />The trouble is application. You can hear the greatest sermons ever, but if it’s not applied to your life then it makes no difference. We don’t just listen to messages for the sake of it, we do it so we can grow, so we can become more like Christ. We need to take what we hear and do something with it or it’s worthless to us.<br />And where it falls down most of the time is in application. We preach, we teach but once people leave the meeting we don’t really have a system of follow through. This to many means the message drifts away or perhaps they have trouble understanding how to apply it… this is especially easy to do when it’s something in your life you are not really keen to change.<br />What can the church do here? Cleary contact with a message needs to happen more than just the once on a Sunday – there needs to be a follow up. A chance to explore that which was brought, look at ways to apply it to our lives and re-enforce the main points. A chance to interact and find ways to take things further.<br />Clearly online has to be seen to be a great way to do this, as the online culture is becoming more and more important. Perhaps as a forum or a blog with feedback… there’s certainly potential in this. It allows interaction and a certain degree of anonymity. However this was something that was tried at our church, albeit in a VERY low key way, but I’m not sure one person looked at the “Sermon Blog”. I ended up removing it from the site after a short amount of time. That’s not to say this idea has no potential, I think it would change on a church to church basis, but I need to accept for now that my church has not yet embraced the online world as individuals, so the effectiveness of this is currently limited to me, however that’s not to say it can be a very effective was of allowing application in other, more tech friendly churches.<br />Another option is through small groups. There is a real potential here, certainly in my church. We run some small groups labelled “action teams”. One of the requirements of their weekly meetings is that it includes a time of teaching. This has been perhaps a little bit of a struggle for some of the leaders to keep up.<br />Perhaps a solution to this is to use these groups to help with the process of applying what has previously been taught. Now of course people can’t be forced to apply it, but they can certainly be helped as much as possible to apply it. A message with no application in reality has very little long term worth. A sermon that just tickles the ears but illicits no change is, frankly, pointless. I know that sounds a little harsh, but it’s true. The whole point in a sermon is to build people up – bring them closer to becoming Christ-like. Application of principles and ideas is vital to the growth of a Christian.<br />Now this of course requires addition work on the preacher – a follow up sheet with exploration of how to apply the message would be needed. Perhaps a few helpful hints or discussion topics.<br />But this has to be worth while, nobody can really be happy with a message that brings no chance – so anything that can help the application of it must be considered profitable.<br />It would also mean that every message brought on a Sunday has to have some form of practicality about it, but again this is a good thing – we should always be thinking about what change we’d like o see come from a sermon, otherwise why are we even preaching it?Luke Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03322234782513404248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6549325818279587003.post-68845834351220108092009-04-15T08:25:00.000-07:002009-04-15T08:26:06.973-07:00Church Part 2 - Christendom is Dead<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; "><p><b><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; ">Christendom is dead – long live Christianity.</span></span></b></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">I’m reading a great book at the moment, called the shaping of things to come – by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch. And it proposes this: Christendom, something that began when Constantine made Christianity the main state sponsored religion of Rome, is a mindset that is now dead.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">What do they mean by that? When the Church began part of the culture and was government backed then it became less missional in it’s outlook. The church stopped going out to the people because the people came to the church.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">The church was part of the state – the western world WAS Christendom. It was not just a religious community, but a part of the very fabric of the world. The church was not a movement subverting the system, it was the system.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">The church was so important to the way people lived – it was central to the community. And for a long time that’s the way it was. But not anymore.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">The church is no longer state backed like it was. It is no longer the system. It is no longer the focal point of the community. We are once again on the outside.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">This can be a good thing, after all the outsiders of the early church changed the world. However this is not a good thing if we still continue to operate in a Christendom mindset, assuming people still look to the church in the way that they used to, as it won’t work like that.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">So – how do we do church in the post modern age?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">First we need to stop acting under a false assumption. We are not the centre of the community anymore. We do not have a position of respect in the minds of most people. It’s not the package that’s the problem, it’s the fact that Christianity is not on the radar for most people. We might not want to accept this but it’s the truth.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">Too often we operate under the assumption that if we get the package right, the people will flock to us. That all they are waiting for is for us to get the music right, to have dynamic preaching, to have a great looking building that people will come to us, because all they’d been waiting for is for us to get slick.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">That may have been the case in the past. But the church no longer holds the same position in people’s minds. The “all we need to do is be attractive and they will come to us” is a false assumption.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">Most churches that get this slickness right and have great music and “inspiring teaching” see most of their growth through transfer – other Christians coming in because they are excited by the package. (That’s not to say they never see people come in, a crowd attracts a crowd, and the more people you have the easier it is to mobilise some of them, but generally this is true). Most non Christians don’t’ decide to go to church because they’ve heard that the music is really good, or because they have a video projector, or because the choir all wear matching outfits.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">We need to move away from the Christendom mindset that “they will come to us”, because Christendom is dead. Instead we are on the outside again and need to adopt the early church model of “we will go to them”.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">Attractional outreach needs to be replaced with Incarnational outreach.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">What does this mean practically?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">The traditional “gospel” outreach meeting is not the most efficient way to reach people. Clearly, we have so many gospel meetings that have no none Christians in them.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">Does this mean we abandon it? No, there are people in our church today who were saved that way. It might not be the most effective way, but it still sees results. We currently have a “guest service” once a month and often people are saved in them. However I wouldn’t say this is the norm and those we do see saved are in the ones and twos, rather than the tens. (You can multiply these numbers to match the size of your congregation – percentage wise it’s normally pretty small.)</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">I think we need to relook at how we do “outreach”. Holding a meeting and waiting for the people to come to us is not the most effective form of outreach and should not be our MAIN form of reaching out.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">I remember doing “outreach” meetings in Wolviston. Renting a community centre and holding pretty much a normal meeting that we’d invited people to with a little singing and drama thrown in. And nobody turns up. Again, we run under the false assumption that it’s just a matter of getting the package right and the people will come to us. This is attractional thinking. We take our Church model and just put it into a different location and people don’t turn up.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">We held a number of outreach meetings in Redcar at the Red Barns hotel, often there were no new people in. During one of these meetings I was really hot and thirsty. So when the tea was served afterwards I wanted something different – so I went through to the bar to grab a coke. When I got there, I noticed that in the room next to where we met, were around 20 non Christians, all of whom seemed to know each other and were regulars. The people we were trying to reach were at the other side of a wall and had no interest in what we were doing next door and they had been there every week that we’d held an outreach and I’d never had a conversation with any of them. We expect them to come to us, yet we do not go to them. I left the bar with my coke, really thinking that somehow we’d missed something.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">I wonder what difference it would have made if those outreach meetings were instead a time when 20 of us sat in the bar, drank soft drinks and got to know these guys? Listened to them. Talked with them. Were Christ incarnate to them – cared about the things that were going on. I wonder if after a few weeks of that if they’d start to wonder what we have that they do not.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">Instead of waiting for the world to come to us, let’s get involved. Let’s take it to them. Our church has a couple called Colin and Maureen who have a ministry that reaches out to the drug addicts, homeless and prostitutes in Middlesbrough. They listen to them. They chat with them. They pray with them. That is outreach. Over the years they have brought more people than anyone else I know to gospel meetings. But you know what, when people they bring make a decision – it’s not just because of the gospel meeting. It’s because of the groundwork that has already been done. In church – the decision is confirmed and followed through for the most part. That is outreach. That is getting involved.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">We run a family centre – that is outreach. That is getting involved. What a way to be Christ to people. Put a load of Christian workers in there, every day with the purpose to be Christ incarnate to the families who use the centre. What a difference that would make.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">We are currently looking at training some of our members to be CAP workers. I couldn’t be more excited by this. Not only is this a vital chance to be able to help people who are struggling with debt, but it’s a chance to pray with people – to show them the love of God. To get involved in their lives. We will see salvations through this, I have no doubts. CAP is an amazing evangelistic tool.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">This is what it’s all about. We need to be looking for more ways to get involved with the people in our community and showing them Christ in us. That’s’ the most effective outreach programme we can have. Instead of waiting and hoping they will come to us, let’s go to them.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">Does this mean we don’t have “guest services”? By no means – if all our members are active in missional church – then we have a place to bring people to cement and confirm the decisions that are made in the home. How do we enliven a gospel meeting? By ensuring that we are always making connections, sharing with people and as a natural progression bringing them along with us.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">This has to be more effective than spending our time a whole room away from the people we are trying to reach.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">We do evangelism training at the moment – which is great. But in addition to this then there needs to be added a mobilisation. Where we are mobilised in groups to reach different areas and different groups of people, in new and creative ways. And that’s a key – to send people out together. You need to have backup in what you do. Jesus sent the disciples out together.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">A friend of mine sings worship songs in his local pub to reach the community he lives in. After starting well he began to get discouraged, as he was not seeing the fruit he had hoped for. So he put on a meal and invited his whole church and those he was reaching at the pub.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">And what happened. None of his church turned up and he was gutted. We can’t go this alone. We need to do this together. We send people OUT and we send them together.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">What does it mean to be an active Christian? Going to church? No, church attendance is not in itself a virtue. Being active is growing and learning, but also in reaching others. So if the main form of outreach happens outside the church walls, what does this mean for the Sunday meetings?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">That’s another subject…</span></span></p></span>Luke Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03322234782513404248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6549325818279587003.post-80657847156843680852009-03-06T04:07:00.000-08:002009-03-06T04:09:03.420-08:00Local Church - part 1<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; "><p><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; ">I've been thinking a lot recently about local church. I am working on a vision that can help us move our church forward... it's just thoughts at the moment that I will post in several parts.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">It seems across the nation, local church is in trouble. They are shrinking in many towns – giving way to larger out of town churches or big city churches. There is a bug move towards the mega church or city church model. Does this mean that local church is a thing of the past? I don’t believe so, but it does need a rethink.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">To be clear from the start, I think mega churches are great things. I may not like them all, but we can’t deny that some of them are great. I love the teaching and the ideas of Mars Hill for example, both of them, and they are certainly mega Churches. Also, I am the work of bigger city churches is crucial to the work of Christ. I am not against huge city churches – they do a lot of good.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">The work for example of Abundant Life in Bradford is hugely important and I believe River City and Newcastle Church are both on track to become vital to our area. I believe Paul Scanlon is right when he says that Church has to change or die – however I don’t believe that there is only one church model that is needed. Whilst I think that the City Church model and the work they do are great things, I also believe that Local Church is of an equal importance and cannot become the same thing.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">For the cities I think that there needs to be a different model then there is for towns and villages. A local church cannot and should not try to emulate what the city church does as its community is different. This is not to say one is better – both are needed and both serve a different purpose.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">River</span></span><span lang="EN-GB"> City, for example can reach Middlesbrough very effectively, but since it’s not based in Billingham then it cannot be an effective local church to those who live in Billingham, or have an impact on the community in Billingham. Because it’s not local, it’s not part of the town’s community. Bradford’s Abundant life can transform the city, but is not effective in nearby towns, Ilkley for example. Cities need big city churches. Smaller communities need smaller, healthy, local churches and attempting to transfer the city church model to small towns will not work.</span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">To those who do not live in the city, then I think it’s important to be part of a local church. John Bevere struck a chord with me when he said that “<i><span style="font-style: italic; ">you don’t get to choose your church</span></i>” and I think there is a lot of truth to this. Whilst I don’t necessarily hold with David Pawson’s view that you go to the church closest to you (That would make me a catholic) I do believe that it’s important to be a part of a church community that lives and breathes in the community in which you live. For me to go to a city church, well it’s not local to me and moves me outside of my community.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">The Oakwood centre for example, is a very large church and is based in Eaglescliffe – a small community. However most of the people in this church do not live in Eaglescliffe. They live outside and travel in. I’m not sure a small town should sustain a huge church, but instead we should be looking for other ways to grow that will help us serve and reach those around us. I’m not having a go at the Oakwood centre here, it’s a big church – it runs a city church model – but it’s not a local church.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">Now clearly, local church across the nation appears to be shrinking and giving way to the larger church. The model in local church does not currently work and as a result it is dying. Does this mean it should either die or adopt the city church model? There needs to be a better answer.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">The City church model does work very well in its environment, but I am convinced that there must be another way for local churches to operate. Whilst I enjoy the hyped meeting in city churches, although in some case they do tend to feel a bit like corporate events, I don’t think this should be a model adopted by every church. There must be another way for local churches.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">Whilst big youth based churches are a great thing to have, they can leave older people feeling like they are not a part of it. Church is community and it must strive to be as multi generational as possible. Church is family and local church is a family church.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">Church is not a meeting, or an organisation, or a business, or a club although at times it does look like all of these things. Church is the physical body of Christ on earth, living through his followers. Church is all about people, if it’s anything. And the main elements of Church are about how it relates to people and how its people relate to God.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">A problem we have is that many local churches are small, weak and struggling to stay alive. This does not mean they are not valid. Shildon AOG, for example is a vital church to those who attend it. There are people there who have left larger churches as they wanted more substance to their teaching and they find that in Shildon. However as a town, Shildon will not support a huge church. So what happens?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">I think we’ve learned a lot in New Life Billingham through our recent relationship with Redcar and Stockton and in here I see a model for growing local churches.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">The problem small churches usually get is a lack of vision and they start to feel isolated and alone. When we started to look after Redcar, one of our main points was that they were to join us on a Sunday morning. I think that proved to be very successful – their vision of church has expanded as meeting with a lot of believers has raised their expectation levels. They have joined us on a morning now for some time and met themselves on a night and we have provided ministry. This to me seems and ideal model.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">Soon, Redcar will have their new building and they have a congregation that is growing steadily. I think the time will soon come that they will not join us on a morning, but instead will have both meetings in their own building.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">This is a great way to keep church local and growing. We currently are joined by Ragworth on a morning and they too have a separate meeting on a night. In time they too will hopefully be at a point where they can have two meetings in their own building too. This would be a healthy progression.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">In looking to reaching out and growing, how big must a church be before it gets too big? I don’t think this is a simple question to answer, Billingham currently can get around 150 people some weeks and there’s certainly room for that to grow. However I don’t think a church of 1000+ in Billingham would be really sustainable or advisable. Wouldn’t it be better to have other churches as part of us that can grow – where it’s not easy to get lost and just become a church attendee?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">We use the phrase in our fellowship, “1 church in three locations”. Why not build on this and extend this? This creates healthy sized churches that stay local.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">This can be achieved by New Life running two different versions of church meetings, or congregations. Sites and Satellites. These can both have a number of features, every site and every satellite does not have to be the same.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">Currently, we run with one main site and two satellites. New Life Billingham is our main site. Redcar and Stockton both operated as satellites. They join us on a Sunday morning, then on a night they meet separately. Stockton in its church building and Redcar currently in a hotel. They operate as Satellites, even though Redcar is a separate charity in it’s own right.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">Since this has started Redcar has seen growth. They have become more established and are moving forward. Soon we hope they will have a new building in which to meet. At this point they will become very firmly established in Redcar. They will have a base that is centred in their community from which they can reach out.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">I think that it will be at this time they should stop being a satellite and become a site. Not separate from us, but another established site. At this point they stop joining us on a Sunday morning.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">It’s also at this point when they become a site that they look to establishing their own satellites. For example, Lotfus or Saltburn – places close to them – where they are joined in the morning then on the night they meet separately.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">This seems a way to help struggling churches, for example the church in Loftus, and to establish new ones. I don’t know of a church in Saltburn.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">At this point New Life Billingham will also look to establishing a new satellite, be it a plant or a small church. This approach would enable growth, development of the smaller churches and a good support base to plant new churches, or new sites. One church, many sites.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">And these Satellites can all be different. Stockton currently meet in a church building. But why not start another somewhere else that meet in a house to begin with? They get the big celebration meeting on the morning them operate from house to house on the night.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">Or why not a youth Satellite – Main church on the morning, youth church on the night? With a view to becoming a youth church site. This could lead to generational relevant sites, location relevant sites, cultural relevant sites. Where all these needs are met, but we are still one church.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">If every satellite looks towards becoming a site, this is a healthy, manageable form of church growth. Also, the whole church could be brought together a few times a year for big celebrations that would have great outreach potential.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">The big problem with doing something big in churches is that it’s hard to get them to work together, but this would in essence be one church, with a senior oversight overlooking the leadership of all the sites. They would therefore be a more powerful force in reaching out.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; "> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;font-size:100%;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: 12pt; ">So what does this look like – how can we build a church model around this? Well that will be the next post...</span></span></p></span>Luke Taylorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03322234782513404248noreply@blogger.com0