Tasty morsels from the blog world

As work has increased my blog diet has cut back quite a bit, but I have found some very nutritional nuggets in recent days. Here's the dessert tray; pick one or more of your favorites:

Malcolm Chamberlain has a great reflection on "curating" worship rather than leading worship, with a great quote from Pete Rollins of Ikon: "Each service also attempts to remain faithful to the Augustinian axiom that only God gives God. Because of this the services are designed in such a way as to minimize specific doctrinal statements in favour of employing the Christian narrative to create a space for reflection and encounter. In this way Ikon resembles more an optician's surgery, which helps the eye become more receptive and sensitive to light, rather than a painter's studio, which would offer images for the sight."

Steve Collins has a great metaphor for the church that is trying to emerge: The Omlette Church.

Mike Bishop has some interesting ideas on pastor as spiritual guide: "Spiritual orienteers are the extreme sport junkies of the church. They are not content to plod along with the status quo, adding badges to their spiritual Boy Scout uniforms. They dive into the depths of God’s riches in prayer, in the Word, in His mind and His thoughts. Together they search for answers to the growing-edge questions posed by the community. They pursue the wisdom of other saints and guides that have gone before and completed the course. ..."

Churchrelevance.com has a great piece on Five Questions that will Kill a Big Vision: "Dreaming big is a vital part of incredible churches. Although in the long run churches need to be practical in their decisions, beginning a creative or planning process with practical questions a quick way to maim your church’s potential..."

Ryan Bolger (co-author of "Emerging Churches") wrote a while ago on "Please, No More Doing Church for 'Them'": "A focus on the church service as connecting point perpetuates the idea that following Jesus is about going to church. The community's life takes the form of American congregational religion rather than the fluid practices of the gospel, and this emphasis presents quite a barrier to the 'seeker' outside, as they need to be converted to the values of American religious congregationalism before they can come to faith. "

Update: Corrected Malcolm's name (15 July)

Comments

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Anonymous said…
Thanks for the links. That's give me some good reading.

Peace,
Jamie
N.C. said…
Thanks for the comment. Would love to learn more about what you are doing/exploring in Penn.

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