First Corinthians Question

A sincere request: Would you please write or post on your blog your commentary on 1 Corinthians 9... especially verses 19-23? What does this mean? Please define how a present-day pastor might "do what Paul did" without being CGM. I would benefit most from a positive statement of what it means and how it applies, rather than negative statements on how others are doing it wrong. But I can't tell you how to write.

Thank you.

(P.S. This may already exist on your site, but I couldn't find it. If it does, a link, please.)

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GJ - I am not sure what the issue is. An additional comment would help.

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PoultryMan wrote:

As background info for you, that passage was also used in the Martin Sprigs "Outreach in a Digital World" presentation to cajole attendees that "see, Paul would use the computer."


(Page 5, here is the use of the passage. This link is to the resources page for the presentation.)


Yeah, Paul certainly would have a laptop on his travels. He would also travel steerage on his missions, and not spend most of his time at conferences and fundraising strategy sessions with his board of directors.


Grab your red-letter Bible and see what, if anything, Jesus said would fit in a Tweet.

Roses, Compost, and Birds

On Saturday we began to get about 10 inches of snow. An email told me the roses I ordered were on the way! Yesterday some snow was still in the parking lots and in the woods. The roses arrived late in the afternoon.

The altar guild decided to Go Galt this year, since one rose bush costs as much as one inexpensive bunch of roses at Walmart (about $10). I decided to order aromatic hybrid tea roses since Wayside Gardens had a special on them.

Today we had to pick up a scan of Liberalism: Its Cause and Cure, since my gruff but likable editor is ready to get it prepared for Lulu.com publishing. Northwestern Publishing House gave me the rights. Like Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant, it sold very well for them. CLP is still listed with NPH. All the completed books are available from Lulu.com as free PDF downloads - no limit.

I looked at the sky and said, "Let's get home to get those roses in the ground."

I picked some good areas in the yard for the roses, although shade is a bit of a problem. To make sure it would rain, I washed and waxed the Ichaboat afterward. That worked, and the rain will stay until Sunday.

Nothing is better for new seeds and roses than steady rain. The bushes need to have the soil washed around their roots so the plant awakens from dormancy and begins to grow. In Arizona I planted them with paper grocery bags around them, to prevent drying out. That does not appear to be a problem here.

Next I will plant garlic or chives around them as a bug deterrent and aroma enhancer. Opposites grow best together, so the garlic family is used as a companion plant with roses.

Some people really believe in digging soil amendments into the ground. I learned from no-dig composting that the earthworms will do the job. All they ask is a soggy, rotting blanket of organic material above them. Compost is best, because it is finished and ready to shade the soil while feeding the worms. Leaves, grass clippings, and many other organic materials can also be used as mulch to accomplish the same thing.

The earthworms will:

1. Tunnel up and down, providing channels for the rain.
   
2. Sweeten the soil with their unique calciferous glands.
   
3. Devour and grind up rocks and organic matter.
   
4. Pull organic material into the soil.
   
5. Produce nitrogenous waste, which is good for the plants.
   
6. Place their castings on the soil surface or beneath the surface - the finest soil amendment of all. Try buying it - very expensive.
   
7. Produce eggs, which will survive the harshest weather.
   
8. Die, leaving a little bundle of nitrogenous matter to improve the soil.

Birds enjoy a Creation-based yard. Our backyard is a ravine with at least four dead trees lying on the ground or standing up, hollow and inviting. What people see as trash, animals see as condos. Needless to say, with abundant water, trees, bushes, grass, and hollow trees, we have plenty of birds: bluebirds, finches, bluejays, cardinals, starlings, woodpeckers, and juncos.

Finches love Nyjer seed (sometimes called thistle or niger), so I have two socks of Nyjer hanging at two windows. Bluebirds and many other species enjoy suet, so I have two suet stations. Bruce Church chatted up cardinals, so I added a sunflower feeder to each location. Cardinals like platform feeding, so I scatter some sunflower seeds on the front patio each day. Mr. Squirrel gets his ear of corn daily, after I walk Sassy - who hunts squirrels without fail and without success.

All that bird food costs very little and lasts a long time. I overdid the suet at Christmas, but the stations lasted almost three months. At $6 a lump, that is only $2 a month for suet, if the birds have only one bag of it. The bounty was probably a good idea, because we quickly became bird central. I wanted to get birds feeding at the window, and now they are.

Birds are noisy eaters and bathers, so a few happy birds establish a choice location for the rest of them. I added two inexpensive birdbaths for them, near each feeding area. One catches water off the roof, because the dripping noise is attractive to birds. The other one is on the back deck. It will be more attractive during dry weather, if that ever happens this year. Birds need to bathe and preen their feathers, so they favor areas with shallow water supplies. I took a $2 tin and places some rocks and a big rock in it, to allow the birds to step in and out easily. One giant rock serves as the waiting area.

Birds provide cheerful entertainment for very little investment. Our friends are coming soon, and they will be able to sit in the living room and gaze out the picture windows at birds enjoying suet, sunflower seeds, Nyjer, and water. Standing in the kitchen, they will see the bush where the same food and water are provided.

Stetzer Fans, Saddle Up! - More Proof That Pietists Become Political Activists

Source

What is Salvaton? – Answering Ed Stetzer’s Missional Question
Jump to Comments

There is an amazing conversation going on right now around the term “missional.” Every Monday Ed Stetzer (president of Lifeway Research) posts a question for missional thinkers to answer. Yesterday his question was on the topic of salvation.

It is a large and complicated question, so first I will recap his post and then answer it a piece at a time.

RECAP OF THE QUESTION:

I saw three underlying frustrations fueling Stetzer’s question:

1. Stetzer commented that the understanding of salvation on the individual/personal level should not be dismissed. He then gave multiple Biblical examples of salvation on this level and concluded that an individual’s personal commitment to Christ comes first and then his/her transformation toward social justice.
2. He pointed to a growing movement of people who would define “salvation” as bringing justice through political and economic reform (corporate, not individual level). This movement began as a both individual and corporate but has more recently become solely corporate tossing out the individual.
3. Many missional thinkers speak of salvation happening outside the church (specifically when speaking about God being on mission – the Missio Dei – and people joining God in that mission). Stetzer again mentioned his concern with this phrase hoping for a more further definition.

Stetzer then asked two questions:

“Should the definition of “salvation” be expanded beyond personal redemption of sins to include social justice through the reformation of economic and political institutions? We are not debating here whether we think social justice is right or wrong but rather should it be included in what we mean we we talk about “salvation.” Evangelicals have generally said no and mainliners have generally said yes.”

“Second, what is the difficulty with the question of personal salvation? Why is that hard for some to answer? Perhaps it is too unsophisticated, but I think it matters deeply. Actually, I think that just about all evangelicals would say it matters. Tim Keller has stated the concern and I share it. If you broaden “God is working outside the church” to one direction, you have to answer if it includes personal redemption. Perhaps I am obsessed, but I am O.K. being obsessed with the redemption of men and women. So, I think the “missional conversation” needs to ask (and answer), is God saving people outside of the proclamation of the gospel?”

IS GOD WORKING OUTSIDE THE CHURCH?

I’m going to table Stetzer’s first question for a later post (hopefully tomorrow) because the concept of justice is complicated. Rethinking my theology and the Biblical narrative through the lens of the Missio Dei has radically changed my understanding of justice and its place in the salvation discussion.

So now I would like to clarify why I (a grass-roots missional thinker with a Southern Baptist background) use the phrase “God is at work outside the church.”

The meaning of the phrase is determined for me by the context of the conversation.

1. God is working outside your understanding of church.

Often I use the phrase “God is working outside the church” to combat the idea that those who are not a part of an institutional church are somehow not able to be used by God. Let’s be honest, in our culture the word church is most often used to denote an institution. Buildings, worship services, beloved clergy, and programs are all central to our understanding of “church.” Many times when I use the phrase I am speaking directly to that understanding. I am part of a missional community that meets on Monday nights. We look nothing like an institutional church; but God is working through us in the community to bring salvation (individual/personal) to the lost. You would be amazed what a struggle this is for the average, everyday joe. You would be blown away how often I have been asked things like, “So when do you preach?” or “So when you grow big enough you are going to get a building right?” or “So what church is your small group a part of?” When I use the phrase in this context what I am really saying is, “God is working outside your understanding of church.”

2. The temptation toward universalism.

I don’t use the phrase to mean that some other form of salvation exists outside the Lordship of Christ; although I understand the temptation to use it in this way.

Growing up I was very much protected within the walls of the church. My church family was like an unbreakable bubble. We (believers) were in the bubble and they (non-believers) were out. I got passing glimpses of those outside of it, but never a monstrous amount of contact because my life revolved aournd (sic) the church. What defined those of us inside the bubble were the rules and rituals that dominated our lives. Following the rituals and rules is what it meant to be a disciple. Now don’t get me wrong, we preached grace and mercy. We spoke about the saving blood of Christ. We railed against legalism and salvation by works; but when it came to describing what the life of a believer looked like we gave examples like: we go to church on Sunday, we participate in the following five programs, we don’t drink, we don’t cuss, we don’t dance (where anyone can see you), we pray when we are in trouble or need something, we only listen to Christian music, and on, and on, and on.

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GJ - Asking the question is a good way to promote the subject being raised.

Leftist Evangelicals quickly become pure Leftists who hide behind the cross to hide their hammer and sickle.

Church and Change hired Stetzer to be their main speaker, then lied about it until the cows came home. The Conference of Pussycats finally woke up and insisted the invitation be withdrawn.

WELS discipline consists of denying that it ever happened, or as Don Patterson handles it - hiding the eggs.

Texas WELS has a message to those concerned about organized Easter egg hunts:

No hay huevos.

Cuban Health Care Celebration

Missouri Shrinker Snuffs His Own Blog

Here is the shocking admission.

Click on his link for all the Shrinker trends, including Craig Groeschel, the Delphic Oracle of The CORE.

Community Church Easter Egg Hunt

Two choices here.

Dateline: Bella Vista, Arkansas.

I got my first Easter egg hunt invitation in the mail yesterday. No, it was not from Holy Word Lutheran Church (WELS) in Austin, Texas.

The Bella Vista Community Church invited me to their Easter egg hunt. There was not much room on the postcard, so that Easter egg hunt must have been very important to them.

One sect makes a big deal about Easter being named after a fertility god Oster, and the day being marked by giving colorful eggs. Such customs go back to Zoroaster, the religion of Queen's founder, Freddy Mercury.

One Lutheran, who does a lot of research for this blog, suggested I look at a search for WELS and Easter eggs. I did another for Missouri and Easter egg hunts. The results were appalling, in both cases.

I was discussing religious holidays with some pastors. We agreed that Easter was our favorite because it was the least commercialized. Advent has become a time of "I'm too busy because of all the parties." We have to hear Little Drummer Boy, sung by Bing Crosby, in every store and elevator.

Why detract from the value of Easter by associating it with a non-Christian tradition, an event staged by dozens of community groups at once?

Holy Word is so proud of their effort that they advertise it as a clever idea at the Church and Change website. They omit the eggs in the write-up, lest someone think they are Chicaneries. Patterson has issues with Church and Change. That is why he speaks there, attends their conferences, and organizes WELS workers to attend the Exponential conference.

Enthusiasts find each other and work together. They have a common bond, a common un-faith. They do not trust the Word.

Imagine the apostles gathering the crowds for an Easter egg hunt rather than teaching them about the resurrection of Christ.

That is what the WELS and Missouri disciples of Church Growth are doing. They are ashamed of the Gospel. They are Enthusiasts, looking for something "that works."

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wildcard (http://wildcard.myopenid.com) has left a new comment on your post "Community Church Easter Egg Hunt":

Holy Word is so proud of their effort that they advertise it as a clever idea at the Church and Change website. They omit the eggs in the write-up, lest someone think they are Chicaneries. Patterson has issues with Church and Change. That is why he speaks there, attends their conferences, and organizes WELS workers to attend the Exponential conference.

They are so arrogant AND stupid!

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wistex (http://wistex.myopenid.com) has left a new comment on your post "Community Church Easter Egg Hunt":

The reason why the eggs aren't mentioned is because they are an afterthought. Most non-members come to the sunrise service because they saw a road sign. These signs don't say anything else except "Easter Sunrise Service", the time, and the location.

The Easter Egg Hunt is done in between the sunrise service and the regular Sunday service, mostly to give the kids something to do. Similarly, Holy Word offers a breakfast to give the adults something to do.

If people weren't so willing to put the worst possible construction on things, you might see how inconsequential the Easter eggs really are.

But then we wouldn't have funny pictures of pastors in bunny suits, would we?

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GJ - I thought my Doebler bunny was especially flattering. Alice in Wonderland 3-D, Part Deux, is having a casting call right now. Hurry hurry!

Howzabout having the adults hunt for eggs while the kids eat? The Shrinkers assume everyone is a kid needing entertainment?