Church Planting

Church planting is thirsty work. One take on that is it will drive you to drink. Another is it is hard work. Both can be true. It can also be lonely.

On Thursday the 8th of June, we will be having our first Greenhouse meeting. This is an informal group for those who have begun planting a church or are dreaming about it. We will get together and just share thoughts and experiences and just be a support to each other. The meeting will be downtown at Dave Brazzeal's house. Starts at 7pm. Directions will come later.

If you are interested in coming, contact me at kim@the-open-door.org Planting or dreaming, we would love to have you.

Peace,

K

Da Vinci Code nonsense

Christians are idiots. Every now and then Hollywood does a great job of reminding the world how dumb we can be. The last Temptation of Christ was one of my favorite moments and now, The Da Vinci Code is proving it once again. Let me refresh your memory, The Last Temptation of Christ was a forgettable movie that Christians turned into a major success, by picketing and writing letters of protest. Most people went to see it BECAUSE Christians were so upset at it.

So, now Hollywood has produced another movie that will bring Christianity to its knees?... And that Happy Days kid wouldn't put a disclaimer in the opening credits.... that satanist. Actually that was a brilliant promotional move. It just added fuel to the fire of controversy. I don't blame him one bit.

Once again Christians are known for what they are against, not what they are for.

I am amazed at how weak some believers seem to think God is. We act like he needs us to protect his integrity. Actually the testament to his greatness is that in spite of his followers, people still come to faith.

I don't embarrass easily, but this kind of nonsense makes me put a disclaimer in my conversation when someone says, "so, you are a Christian?..."


Peace,

K

Ecclesiology

I have spent the last two days with a bunch of our Free Methodist family members thinking through the FM ecclesiology. That is, talking about the basic principles upon which we do "church". It was a fun two days. I don't know of another denomination that would call on emerging type church people and house church people to the table with conventional church people, to find a frame upon which we can have different expressions of church within the same family.

The diversity makes us rich. We challenge each other to look beyond our own borders. I feel privileged to have been a part of this exercise. I am optimistic about our future. If we continue to grow FM will be an example to others of how a denomination can celebrate diversity and commonality.

I will post our synopsis when I get a copy.

Peace,

K