Month: September 2004
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We Don’t Know How To Fix the Church
Leighton Tebay keeps us humble with this post: Let us be honest, we don’t know how to fix the church All over western society we see the church in decline in numbers and in influence. There are a lot of answers but not a lot of progress. The Willow/Back churches can point to numbers, buildings…
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Weeping For Outsiders
Our churches have been talking about being more intentional about reaching out to those that are “outside.” I sent out the following email to encourage us in this: Jim Petersen lists three obstacles that we all face when we consider reaching out to others: 1. Fear: “What will people think?” 2. Time: “There is no…
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John Arnott (Toronto Revival) Speaks Out
Robert Fitts passed this along to me… a recent quote from John Arnott: More and more we hear the term, “church without walls” but what does this mean? While it can mean sending teams from a local church outside the church’s walls to minister in homes and in the marketplace, I believe it is much…
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Friend of Sinners
I like this post from thedeepend: A survey has been conducted in Newcastle, UK, about how practising Christians are viewed by their work colleagues. They were fairly much liked, actually, but their top three perceived characteristics were as follows: 1. They go to church 2. They don’t have much time to socialise with work colleagues…
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Solitude Precedes Community
A brief comment that was made at the H2H Conference has stuck in my mind and become a full-blown profound thought. The comment was: “Solitude precedes community.” In other words, our individual inner lives must be filled and refreshed so that when we gather as community some of us are bringing something into that community.…
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How to Do Church at Home: Be Real With Each Other
We are made for relationship… with God… and with others. The reality is… we need each other and we need to be real with each other. As Christians, I’m not sure we know what this means. Alcoholics, on the other hand, know exactly what this means. Their literature states: “. . . no society of…
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House2House Conference–Neil Cole
Neil Cole has a passion for reproducing disciples, leaders, and churches that is contagious. He spoke at the House2House conference in Denver and offers Greenhouse Seminars around the country. His basic thesis is this: 1. Lower the bar of what it means to do church. 2. Raise the bar of what a disciple is. 3.…
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Generous Giving
There is a very exciting website called GenerousGiving.org— encouraging believers in the joy and excitement of being, yes, generous givers. Take a look at it! Why should we give? We might ask instead, “Why should we not give?” We often assume that money exists for our own benefit, rather than for God or others. Generous…
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Eldredge
“You cannot live the Christian life without a small group of intimate allies surrounding you… who know you… and who will stand with you and fight for your heart.” This is not an exact quote… but I believe it is close enough to the most direct statement that John Eldredge made at the House2House Conference.…
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Much To Catch Up On
Sorry about being silent for so long. Besides my personal “stuff” I’ve been dealing with, I was gone this past week to the House Church Conference in Denver. Obviously I have much to share: new friends, old friends, excellent teaching (John Eldredge, Neil Cole), wonderful opportunities to network with and encourage each other, and most…