church

Evangelism

Why No One Likes Evangelism

Over the years, I have encountered many Christians who do not feel comfortable with evangelism. Loosely, evangelism is the process in which Christians seek to convert or share the Gospel of Christ to others. When you say the word “evangelism” at a church meeting, thoughts of door knocking, Bible tracks, and street preaching come to mind.

Guy Kent at the Good Preacher/Homiletical Hot Tub blog, posted a funny telling of a Charlie Brown cartoon:

A Charlie Brown cartoon once had Lucy proclaiming to Charlie Brown, “I would make a good evangelist.”

Charlie Brown responds, “And why do you think that?”

“Well, I convinced the boy who sits behind me in school that my religion is better than his religion.”

Now Charlie Brown is intrigued. “How did you do that?”

Lucy tells him, “I hit him over the head with my lunch box!”

The “hit’em over the head” approach is often seen as the worst example of evangelism. These days, post modernity has made us shy about sharing our faith. Anyone who holds to an absolute truth is a nut or is too rigid. Isn’t there a better way?

Evangelism

Post Christian Europe: Not Dead

This past Sunday, we had the wonderful opportunity to have Pieter and Nora Kalkman visit us and share about their ministry in Europe. They spoke about their work in eastern Europe and their challenges in “post Christian” Europe. Nora and Pieter are based in Prague, Czech Republic where they serve through International Ministries as liaison and volunteer coordinators with the European Baptist Federation (EBF). They match the skills and interests of short term mission volunteers from the United States and Puerto Rico with the needs of more than 50 Baptist unions that are part of the EBF.

Some interesting information they shared:

There are only 2.4% Bible believing Christians in Europe, making this is a priority mission field.
Georgian Baptist pastors wear similar liturgical vestments that Orthodox priests wear because of the historical Eastern Orthodox presence in that region.
In some countries, only 3% of the population go to any type of “church.”
There are a variety of needs to do mission work. Week trips, short term, and long term ministry opportunities can be found here.

So if there only 2.4% “Bible believing Christians” living in Europe, we have to ask the question: Is Christianity dead in Europe?

outreach

In Front of the Church

Video blog thoughts…

Pentecost 3C

Churches

Small Churches Are The Next Big Thing

Brandon J. O’Brien at Christianity Today’s Out of Ur blog, has a really interesting thought about the future of small churches. The perception is that small churches are dying and are even the reason why Christianity is waning. However, O’Brien pulls from a number of sources to explain why the small church might be the next big movement:

In a conversation last week about the virtues of small churches, a pastor friend of mine, Chuck Warnock, quoted a passage from John Zogby’s 2008 book The Way We’ll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream (Random House). Zogby prophesies that “The church of the future will be a bungalow on Main Street, not a megastructure in a sea of parking spaces. It’s intimacy of experience that people long for, not production values.”

On the face of it, I couldn’t be more pleased with that prediction. I’ve pastored two small congregations and am now a member and deacon in another, where my wife serves on staff. My experience with these churches has led me to believe that small congregations are uniquely positioned to carry the gospel into the world in the 21st century. Few things would make me happier than if the “next big thing” in Christian ministry conversations was the small church.

Interesting take. Certainly, the Emergent Movement has taught us that small churches can do big things and reach people previously thought to be “unreachable.” Also, “house churches” have been known to start mega churches because of their simplicity and small community.

O’Brien also says there is a danger involved with small churches:

blog, Tony Campolo

Tony Campolo Coming to Albany

Tony looks pretty “hip” here.

2010 Come Alive and Thrive PDF

Session 1, 2: May 21, 2010 Session 3: May 22, 2010. First Church Albany, NY

Click here to register.

Tony Campolo was a professor at Eastern University (it was a college when I matriculated) when I was a student and I attended many of lectures and talks. He taught in my sociology class the final year of full time service to the college. That year, he retired from teaching full time and became a professor emeritus at Eastern. From time to time, I would bump into him walking on campus, in the gym playing basketball (with his grandson), at the seminary, or in the hallways and he would always entertain a little conversation with me.

Tony was the reason why I went to Eastern. I heard him speak at a District of Columbia Baptist Convention meeting in November of 1995 and said to myself, “I want to be at the school he teaches!” After talking with him after the meeting, he encouraged me to come to Eastern. (James Dunn made a similar proposal that night for Wake Forest University, but I turned him down. Sorry James.)

You can anticipate hearing his unique perspective on what the church may look like in the coming decade and how it can address issues of the modern world while remaining faithful to core values and beliefs. How can the church remain relevant, energized, pro-active and connected? How can the church thrive and be significant in an ecumenical and diverse world?

Ash Wednesday

A Baptist Who Celebrates Ash Wednesday?

Huh? A Baptist who celebrates Ash Wednesday? That’s like an American celebrating Boxing Day. The two just don’t go together.

Despite the misnomer, Baptists do celebrate Ash Wednesday and Lent, especially this Baptist. Two of the classic Baptist distinctives is local autonomy and soul liberty. Each Baptist church has the freedom to worship however the church sees fit. Since we Baptists do not have a book of worship or order, like other denominations, Baptists are free to worship as they feel led. This, of course, does not happen in a vacuum. I have always believed that Baptists must be led by scripture, reason, tradition, and experience (the Wesleyan Quadrilateral) with scripture being the final authority.

Ash Wednesday marks the first day of Lent. The goal of Ash Wednesday is to reflect upon our humanness, our need for forgiveness, and our connection to Christ’s last days. These themes are symbolized by the imposition of ashes on the forehead, with the words, “You are dust and to dust you shall return…” during the worship service. In the Old Testament, ashes were a sign of penitence and mourning. Job was known for placing ashes upon his head to mourn the loss of his family.

Sure, Catholics do it, but that does not mean that we become Catholic if we receive ashes. We are merely participating in the greater historical liturgical practices of Christians. There is nothing magical about the ashes. You are not any more holy for participating in Ash Wednesday, but it is just another way to experience the presence of God in our lives in a symbolic way.

But, where did this act of worship and repentance on Ash Wednesday come from? Christianity Today provides some insight:

church membership, mission

The Mission of the Mission Statement

Mission statements are used by individuals, non-profits, companies, and even government. Mission statements are supposed to focus or clarify an organization’s purpose or outcome. It is easy for a mission statement to be confusing, too wordy, and just too long. Instead of mission statements empowering people, mission statements can be used as corporate propaganda to make investors feel like the company is working hard. Here are some examples of confusing mission statements:

“We have committed to synergistically fashion high-quality products so that we may collaboratively provide access to inexpensive leadership skills in order to solve business problems”

“It is our business to quickly maintain competitive sources while continuing to globally simplify virtual services.”

“We strive to globally provide access to multimedia based intellectual capital and efficiently simplify effective sources to stay competitive in tomorrow’s world.”

“Our mission is to collaboratively leverage existing high standards in content while promoting personal employee growth.”

What the heck does all that mean? Catch phases like globally, leverage, competitive… Katie Irons at Blogcritics.org offers some insight to mission statements:

Advent, blog

It’s Black Friday! But, Christmas is Coming!

Well, today is Black Friday! The craziest shopping day of the year! Did you go and brave the crowds for all those insane deals? I could never get up at 4 a.m. and wait in line just to get a better price on a Christmas gift. Just of thought of the crowds, the lack of order, and crazy moms fighting over the newest toy (this year its some robotic hamster). Just check out all these people waiting in the cold:

Did you notice the throngs of store employees standing there to keep order? We have all heard the stories of people getting injured, trampled, and even killed by mobs of angry shoppers. Crazy! From the looks of this video, it is an orderly procession of people waiting for that great deal on that perfect gift for Christmas. From the shouts of joy in the video, I can only imagine the excitement, adrenaline, and hope that people experienced. They are excited about the deals. Their adrenaline is pumping because they know they have to run to be the first. And, they hope that their Xbox or Wii will be there for them to buy.

Why is it so exciting to wait and line at 4 a.m. to get the “best” deal? Why all the excitement?

Halloween

When Christians meet saints after Halloween

Some of us may be uncomfortable with the holiday that is upon us: the dreaded Halloween! What an evil holiday! But, wait! Is Halloween really that evil?

The word “Halloween”, as originally indented, was a Christian term. More accurately called, “All Hallows Eve” (hallow meaning “holy”) was a preparation day for All Saints Day, a day that was originally created to remember the Christian martyrs and saints.

Halloween is often associated with the pagan concept of Samhain, the festival where ancient pagans believed that the worlds of the living and dead would been thinly divided. But, we have seen from the other ancient pagan festivals associated with Christmas and Easter, pagan connections do not serve as a reason why we cannot celebrate a Christian holiday. The pre-Christian practices of Samhain have been clearly separated from All Hallows Eve by the historical Church, but many Christians have abandoned this day of remembrance.

However, by understanding Halloween through All Saints Day, rather than evil occult connections, Christians can take comfort in knowing that All Hallows Eve or Halloween be a Christian observance. Here is why:

Book Reviews, nuChristian

Q&A with Author Russell Rathbun

Author Russell Rathbun spoke with On the Bema about his new book, nuChristian: finding faith in a new generation (Judson Press). Russell is a founding minister with Debbie Blue of House of Mercy, a pioneering emergent church in St. Paul, Minnesota. Rathbun is also the author of Midrash on the Juanitos (Cathedral Hill Press,2009) and the critically-acclaimed Post-Rapture Radio (Jossey-Bass, 2008). He lives with his wife, two kids, and dog KoKo in St. Paul.

OnTheBema: You begin your book with examining the postmodern framework. Christians need to understand it. Where do you draw the line between understanding postmodernism and using postmodernism to a church’s advantage without compromising the Gospel message?

Russell: The way I understand it, Postmodernism, is not a “thing” we can use or not use, it is just the way the world operates. It is the underlying ethos of our time. It is important to understand that the Post-Baby Boomer generations came of age and are informed by this ethos (whether they realize it or not). There has been a radical shift in how truth claims can be made. We can not assume that dominate Western Christian ideas (which may or may not be the same as the Gospel–often they are not) hold sway in the way they once did. This is why it is important to be in relationship with people instead of being in a debate with people. In the end the debate doesn’t matter, loving your neighbor as a response to the love of God through Jesus Christ is what matters.

OnTheBema: You make a good point about how Christians need to make disciples rather than just converts. You say, “We are not called to save people, we are called to love people.” (pg. 43) This is a radical departure from Evangelical Christianity’s emphasis on “saving souls.” Why do you think evangelism ends at the altar call?

Continue Reading…

Cross

When is a Cross not a Cross?

Be sure to vote in the poll at the end of this post.

Is the cross just a cross? Is there a way that a cross cannot be a religious symbol? In the interest of separation of church and state, the Supreme court will rule on an upcoming case that could redefine the boundaries of how religion can play a role in governmental life: Salazar v. Buono

The story goes like this:

A white cross erected on a rock outcropping on federal land in California’s Mojave Desert is at the heart of a Supreme Court case about the government’s display of religious symbols. The Veterans of Foreign Wars’ Death Valley post first built the cross at Sunrise Rock in 1934 to honor Americans who died in combat in World War I.

Neither the VFW nor Sandoz ever owned the land where the cross is located — nor did they have permission to build on the land.

But in 1999, a Buddhist asked the National Park Service for permission to erect a Buddhist shrine on federal land near the cross. The agency refused, setting in motion a series of events in the courts and Congress, culminating in Wednesday’s Supreme Court hearing.

Is it possible that a cross could be refined by the federal government as a non-religious symbol? If you think that is impossible, then consider this:

religion

The Most Religious Cheerleaders… Like Ever

Usually, cheerleaders are not known for being very religious, but a group of cheerleaders put on a public display of their faith. In a news story that is quickly gaining national attention, cheerleaders in Georgia painted Christian scriptures on large banners for their school football team. The banners were painted off school property, with private funds, and during the summer when school was not in session. However, the banners were displayed at public high school football games.

The Cheerleaders at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School efforts were foiled when a lone objector filed a complaint. Hundreds of parents, students, and friends gathered at a rally in support of the cheerleaders. The school superintendent remarked,

“Personally, I appreciate this expression of their Christian values. However, as superintendent I have the responsibility of protecting the school district from legal action by groups who do not support their beliefs.”

What’s the big deal? Why can’t these cheerleaders do this? Is this about the government taking away people’s right to free speech or religious freedom?

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