Revitalize Your Church

Here is a cool little test which reveals your theological worldview. I came our as 1) Evangelical Wesleyan Holiness 2) Emergent Postmodern

Here is a great interview with Ed Young , Lead Pastor of Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas. This past spring, I was privileged to participate in a small group of Wesleyan pastors who met with Ed and learned a bunch from him. He lives and breathes creativity -- which is a beautiful expression of God's image in us. The first verb in the Bible is "created". I think most of us normal pastors use about 0.05% of our creative potential. Ed probably uses about 3%, and the rest of us look bug-eyed and say, "Wow!"

A few weeks ago, I returned from a sabbatical , (funded by a Louisville Institute Grant .) My travels took me to Great Britain. A friend recently asked, "Did you see any relatives over there?" To this, I replied, "Yes! Millions of them!" And that's the truth! Everybody is related to everybody. Together, we are all members of the human family -- all sons of Adam and daughters of Eve. To put it another way, we're all US! There's no such thing as "us" and "them". Everybody is a part of the "us"! Wouldn't it be great if every human being viewed all the others as "us" instead of "them". What if Israeli's and Palestinians thought of each other as members of the same family? What if all Americans laid aside their prejudice against people of other racial groups, and embraced each other? (I recently filled out an end of the year report form for our congregation. One question asked, "What is the...

A few weeks ago, I woke up early in the morning with an inspiring thought racing through my mind. "Honey, wake up!" I said, "I just had a marvelous thought! ""Hmmnn? Whuzzat? Marvelous thought?", Cathy said sleepily. "Do you want to hear it?" I asked eagerly. "Sure, might as well, now that I'm awake." said Cathy. "Feed the Goose! We've gotta Feed the Goose!" "What?? You woke me up from good sleep for that? What do you mean -- feed the goose?" "I don't know, but it's a wonderful thought!" I beamed. Feed the goose. Feed the goose. What in the world does that mean? Then the light clicked on in my little brain -- aha! If you have a goose that lays golden eggs, your most important job is to feed the goose. Don't get so busy gathering the eggs that you forget to take care of the one laying them! What is your mission in life? What are you wired to do? That's your goose! Consider the condit...

Here are a few questions to help you as you face major decisions. 1. What is the real, bottom line issue here? 2. What would be most honoring to God? Have I prayed about it? 3. What are the pro's and con's? (Write them down.) 4. What do your respected advisors say? 5. What factors push you towards "yes"? Are they noble, upright, positive, and true? 6. What factors push you towards "no"? Are they noble, upright, positive, and true? 7. What new problems does the decision bring? (Every new plan brings new obstacles.) 8. What is the right thing to do? 9. T.H.I.N.K. (Is it True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, & Kind?) 10. How will this decision impact other people? (both positively and negatively) 11. What have other, wiser people done in similar situations? 12. Do I have all of the information necessary to make a good decision? 13. Is the timing right? 14. Is this a "long haul" decision or a temporary fix? ("band aid" solutions don't ...

A corrective on my last post. Although I am opposed to prickly theology -- I am not dismissing theology in entirely. I'd prefer the word "theosophy" (lover of God) rather than theology (words about God) -- but the quack cults have staked their claim on that one. The ultimate aim of Christian theology should be holiness (or as I read in a handwritten letter by John Wesley -- "holineff, which is faith working in love.") Heart holiness is nothing more than being reconciled with the Great Commandment: "Loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and loving your neighbor as yourself." So -- all theology should lead to deeper love for God. The deeper the theologian -- the deeper the love for God. Theoligia Cordia: a theology of the heart! Otherwise, our verbage is mere speculation and argument: "theologia spinosa" (prickly theology.) "Theologia spinosa" may impress us by connecting rational dots, but it's not really d...

Here's a great article on the early Pietists and their influence on today's spiritual formation practices. The focus on the inner life, rather than prickly theology ("theologia spinosa" as Philip Jakob Spener calls it), brought spiritual warmth without the third degree burns. There's a local radio station that could use a little more of Spener's influence. They pride themselves in "no Spen zone" homodoxy.