gdp's Comments

Two Handed Warriors : N.T. Wright on Heaven, Hell, and Universalism

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 16:09:19 +0000

While reading Bell's book everything he has stated that I resonated with has been themes you have rightly pulled from Wright's work. I appreciate how Rob has taken those themes and made them a bit more focused and nuanced for a less scholarly reader. However, this same style betrays him a bit as he slips between Biblical arguments and philosophical arguments. He isn't writing with great notation or depth so it is hard to know where some of his ideas come from. Some parts of the book feel so close to being right on and others just leave me wondering a bit.

Reclaiming the Mission : Three Compelling (Theological) Questions - for the Shaping of the Local Church into Mission.

Thu, 3 Feb 2011 17:08:07 +0000

David, Thanks for the post. The idea of us being defensive in our posture stoked my Super Bowl saturated brain. I took your idea and added some football related analogies to it to delve into it a bit more. http://holinessreeducation.com/2011/02/03/going-o... Thanks for the thoughts. I can't wait for the book. Will it be in Kindle form?

Reclaiming the Mission : The Attractional Basis of Neo-Reformed Church Plants YES OR NO?: or Don't try this at home if you li

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 20:22:22 +0000

Ben, Thanks for your comment. I think you are right on with your articulation of who is part of these congregations and the good and bad of this reality. Any church that is keeping our generation plugged in and engaged in the mission of God is to be congratulated. This is an accomplishment in and of itself. It is not necessarily indicative of an ability to reach the rest of our generation that is unchurched, but it is important.

Reclaiming the Mission : The Kinds of Pastors We Need and The Future of Evangelicalism in N America

Thu, 14 Oct 2010 13:31:44 +0000

That is an effectively succinct overview of where we are and where we seem to be going. I am a pastor of a B church that is actively moving to C and I can't imagine a more exciting place to be. I am really thankful for the list of pastoral characteristics that you put out there because they were very affirming to the goals we have been working towards. The biggest challenge for my church in this transition has been my continual effort to give over my authority. They church has always been an outside the box church in ministries, but very traditional in its pastoral roles. We have no transitioned to a place where there is not a single ministry in the church that needs me to function. Even when I am gone from worship the lay people can handle it well. When lay people talk to me about ministries they want to do or things they want to see happen I have taken to telling them, "Hey this is your church, I just work here.,"

Reclaiming the Mission : The Witness of a Transforming Sexually Redemptive Community: Mission and GLBTQ Relations#3

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:11:31 +0000

David, I just preached a sermon on sexuality Sunday and I wish you had posted this last week! Thanks for articulating well the need to submit our sexuality to mission and identity in Christ. What I articulated on Sunday resonated with this as in I was focusing on sex as an act of service and unity instead of self indulgence. I really appreciate the idea of pleasure being an after product, not a goal for sexual union. I also tried to talk about what a sexually redemptive community might look like, but I was just guessing because I have never seen one. Are they out there?

Reclaiming the Mission : On Why Neo-Reformed Theology is Not a Third Way: Deep Church by Jim Belcher

Wed, 4 Aug 2010 16:40:56 +0000

I enjoyed Belcher's book and found some parts of it very helpful. He had some good interactions with some of the theology coming out of the emerging church and its theological and therefore missional shortfalls. He offered some helpful suggestions for building areas of dialog that can keep us focused on unity. But as a Wesleyan- Holiness- Missional - Emergent - Nazarene pastoring kind of guy I struggled with some of the underlying theological assumptions of the book. All of that to say I am looking forward to your interaction with it because I am hopeful you will put to voice some of my struggles with it that I couldn't quite express.

The House Studio : The Journey

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:24:09 +0000

It is a great movie and a great soundtrack. The honest search for purpose and connection, especially by two people who have been through brokenness is really beautiful. My favorite moment of the film, the moment of beauty for me, is when they get in the recording studio and the sound tech is talking to his friend about what a bunch of amateurs he has there that day and then they start playing and something amazing comes out. I think the church is like that. We look like a bunch of jokers who are capable of nothing and then the music starts and through us God's incredible melody comes out. It is enough to make you stop and just stand in awe.