Bodies The Exhibition

What are your impressions about using human cadaevers for educational purposes?

Justified by works?

James 2:24 NASB You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

? Is this a contradiction of what Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:9 ...not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.??

How can this be?

Back to Basic - Christian Boot Camp

A discussion was started over on the intellectually stimulating, mind blowing, best blog in the universe regarding spiritual basic training. Getting back to the basics of the Christian life....

Dad mentions his ideas of the Christian basics as well as a series that may or may not have existed several years (OK, decades) ago... We have been on a similar focus throughout this year in our Club 678 group.

If you were a drill instructor at Camp Fishers of Men, what disciplines, skills, knowledge, etc... would you instill in your young recruits? What are the "essentials" of being a Christian? Why do we believe what we believe?

A storefront youth room!??

I just read about a church that has their youth group meetings in a storefront in a mall! I think that is the best idea that I have heard in a long time. Expensive, I'm sure, but good. Now how can I adapt that type of creativity to Small-town USA, low/no budget youth group?? How do we increase our local "presence"??

Community is Proportinal to Communication

Forgive the higher mathematics/engineering jargon here. But as I considered the issues of community, I found that the level of community seems to be proportional to the level of communication.

1. Verbal communication -- sometimes encouraging, sometimes firm, sometimes rebuking; always truth spoken in love; VC may take the form of email, phone calls, face-to-faces, blog posts w/ comment, letters
2. Presence communication -- spending quality time together; always important to walk a mile in the other person's shoes in the same location; PC does not have to include VC to be effective and could include sporting events, camp-outs, watching a movie together, retreats, meals, Tim Horton's coffee (I take mine large black)
3. Ministry communication -- ministering to the needs of the others, physical, spiritual, emotional, financial; MC may also be silent and may include, fixing a car, remodeling a bathroom, caring for kids so a couple can "date", paying for Tim Horton's coffee (I take mine black), praying for one another

All of these forms of community transfer (ie communication) must be bound by the Word of God for it to occur in the church. But community is not just a church concept. There are communities of hikers/mountain climbers (Todd is trying to reach these communities), and local hamlets/burgs/villagescommunities (like Willseyville) and even online communities (social networks). It is happening with or without us (the church). Why not use something that people want to build bridges with them? Communication is really the key to community!

Thanks for listening to this communication,

Mike

OK, Forgive the facilitator/shepherd jargon here, but I have an excersise for you all to participate in.

List for me the number of people in your local body of believers(church) that you have had contact with in:

1. verbal communication

2.your presence

3.ministered to or by in the past week.

How are we doing in living out the one anothers in scripture?

-Todd

What Would They Say About Your Church?

http://churchhop.blogspot.com/

How to spot a healthy Church


Or, what would you wish they'd say about your church?

Doing Church the Old Fashioned Way

Remember the old Smith Barney investment broker's commercials? The old codger spoke to the young fellow, "They make money the old fashioned way.... they earn it."

Well, we here at 3Strand have been discussing the issues surrounding the current operations of church. Is it possible that our interest and the interest of the emergent church folks are indeed a right (correct, appropriate, commendable) evaluative step to refocus our energies on the most important stuff. Are we simply attempting to Simplify Church or "keep the first things first"? That's a Biblical principle right? What is the kernel? What are the non-negotiables of church activity?

Where does commitment come into the picture? When push comes to shove, we will choose the thing that is most important to us. A refusal to give God the first place is seldom to replace him with a disgusting vice or horrendous idol. It is more often than not a slight deviation; we replace God with a falsely inflated or deflated facsimile of who we really are supposed to be worshipping. I do not believe that we always miss "it" (worship and practical theology) by miles -- at least not at first. I believe that we have bought into the ecstatic worship culture and the buzz for so long that we are hooked on the hard stuff. Maybe we need a little church detox.

That is why communal living seems so foreign to us. We have bought into the rugged individualistic mindset too long. We have seen the ravages of self-centered abuse of such systems to the community. We are better left alone to our own stuff. Religion is after all a personal matter -- you dare not ask me about mine, and I will not ask you about yours.

We might have to start small and rebuild the essential of community again. We might have to re-learn how to trust one another with the confessions and prayer of/for each other. That's not natural!! Community is not natural for guys especially. But just because it is hard work to earn that kind of living, let's not give up. Good things, valuable things will cost us something. Are you willing to invest?

Investing for the future,
Mike

What is community?

Todd asks: What is community? OK webster, now how does it relate to a local group of believers?

Thad says: I've been in this passage quite a bit lately.... While browsing through some different versions (no offense to the KJV only crowd), I came across the NLT which uses the word community right in the heading:

Act2:42-47

The Believers Form a Community

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

So can the church in todays society still accomplish that type of community? How or why not?

Pastor Mike writes: The Acts 2 passage is the quintessential passage about church community. It totally nails the issues that are important to the Biblical function of church.

a. teaching/education
b. prayer (I assume for each other)
c. caring for physical needs
d. fellowship
e. eating meals together
f. communion (?)
g. signs and wonders by the apostles
h. praising God in a sense of awe

This list is highly descriptive but is not exhaustive. There are some things, like structure of leadership, that emerge later, that are not a-Biblical. The dispersion of the church into all the world is not a bad thing. We probably could discuss (in another post) the issues of cessationalism here too, but I don't think that the sign gifts are the only way to be in a true community.

Certainly all of these activities, which describe community activity, CAN be accomplished today. However, the practice of selling all things and having them in common doesn't seem to be carried on in the later development of the church. Nor does the apostleship with its signs and wonders. Remember when trying to emulate a Biblical model to consider the transitional, descriptive (not prescriptive) quality of the book of Acts. For example, does the daily meeting in homes have to happen in order to be Biblical? I'm not sure that it does. I am also not sure that house churches are the better answer. So we can conclude that the church community today might look a little different than the Acts 2 community (if nothing else, we have Starbuck's and Timmy Ho's).

Check out those def's again on the hotlink. Many of them can be applied directly to what we are doing. We call it "church". We ought to be a group of people joined together around a common purpose or calling/vocation (professional, full-time testifiers). We may want to wander over to the book of 1 John to talk about "fellowship". I believe that fellowship is the bosom friend of community.

Should the church be run like a business?

Pastor Mike writes: A statement from one of the books that I am teaching in SS right now.

"Businesses, if they’re going to be successful
for the long haul, must pull their attention off of themselves and refocus their energies on their only reason for existence – to serve their customers.”

Bill Hybels and Mark Mittleberg. Becoming a Contagious Christian

Can we substitute "churches" for "businesses"? Is the marketing model appropriate to apply to the church? Why or why not?

Todd responds: What is the biblical purpose of "church" is it to serve the members? Mike what is the name of the book/author? I have been reading a book by Piper called "Brother we are not professionals" (have you seen it?" I'll bring it next weekend if you want to borrow it.) I'm sure There will be some good insight to add to this discussion from that.

Mike says: The church must reach outside of its own four walls if it is to thrive. The whole point of the church is that it serves its customers. BUT we must define that customer base. Are the oldie moldy believers (lots of yrs being a believer) the customers or the employees?
Yes. They are both. They must demonstrate a freshness though in their approach to taking the message out, else be marginalized by those in the outside world. If it doesn't make sense to people they can't respond. [pls engage this from an arminian viewpoint or at least a tempered calvinistic viewpoint]
These believers also can't think that they have nothing more to learn.
Are the newbie baby believers part of the customers or the employees?
The answer again is YES.
Newbies have the freshness and enthusiasm without the directional guidance/training. Remember that the Acts 2 passage suggests that the thing they continued in was the apostles' teaching. They didn't stop with their initial purchase!
Are the seeking neighbors part of the customer base?
Yes definitely. They cannot be salespeople because they do not know the product. they have no relationship yet. These are the easy ones to serve, because they are hungry! They will handle alot of junk mixed in b/c they really want to know.
Are the screwed up skeptics in the customers? Should we cater to their questions and arguments? YES again, we need to be able to handle the objections and give them truth. Thus we must study for ourselves. We must know this stuff forwards and backwards!
What about the cranky pagans? YES they are still part of the service that we need to be bringing. Remember the challenge to believing wives with unbeliveing spouses in 1 Peter? Serve the unbeliever so that he might come to know. But even if he doesn't, serve him as if you were serving Christ. B/c you are!So, the original author continues, if lost people matter to God, shouldn't they matter to us?
YES YES YES YES
Lost people are only people who haven't responded to the good news yet! :) Let's go find the responders!

A Voice from the Left

Men and Brothers,

I am a bit frustrated by the left moniker that I have gained through Todd's blogmastering. I trust that it is only b/c of my geographical loaction and not the theological bent. I trust that this site will indeed cause all of us to focus on the full-time occupation of Christ-following.
I assure you that it was just greographical in bent, but a good-natured jab none-the-less. The header is totally open for revamping /modification. We can drop the view from Paris and just call it "the three strand cord" and put the verse in the description. I'm cool with that.

May I suggest topics 1. and 2.?

1. The name. I like the "three strand cord" motif. Even better if we could ever figure out how to get some rope border along the edge. Could our header include a translation of the three cord Ecclesiastes statement? And not the brother bio? By the way, if Dad adds to the group as a regular contributor, maybe we should be called "four-squares" [allusion to the interplay of the playground game, not the social standing of any of the contributors]

2. A statement from one of the left wing books that I am teaching in SS right now.
"Businesses, if they’re going to be successful for the long haul, must pull their attention off of themselves and refocus their energies on their only reason for existence – to serve their customers.” Can we substitute "churches" for "businesses"? Is the marketing model appropriate to apply to the church? Why or why not? Yes this will do for starters. I wil copy it and make it a new post.

Thanks for the invite Todd,
Mike
Thanks for joining the discussion, I figure if we can't live the dream of ministering together in person yet, at least we can blog together. -Todd