Review: Activate

by The RevNo Comments
Doug Walker passed along a book for me to check out and I thought that is was pretty helpful. So, I thought I would briefly review it here. The book is entitled Activate: An Entirely New Approach to Small Groups. The authors Nelson Searcy and Kerrick Thomas are pastors at the Journey Church in New York City. They consider themselves to be a “Church of Small Groups”. It is in this context that they have seen their church grow exponentially and powerfully.Basically, the content of the book is simple and straightforward. They give a an overview of the subject in Part One. Here they take about 70 pages to give you a fly-over of their small group system. In Part Two, Searcy and Tomas, then breakdown the system specifically and discuss how to implement the system in your church. They also provide an in depth calendar and very specific how-to’s.The text is an easy read and did not take very...
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The Younger Unchurched…

by The RevNo Comments
There are so many thoughts running around in regards to the emerging generations. These generations are building an ever greater legend for themselves as the “unreachable” generation. They drop out of the faith following high school. They are all “evolutionists”. They “hate the church”.The legendary status of this generation is amazing. The only problem is that the stats do not bear it all out. Ed Stetzer over at LifeWay Research is doing some good work. The stat that is most profound is that yes these generations find the church hypocritical. However, they are very, very open to the Bible. Nearly two thirds of the thousand surveyed said that they were open to having a friend study the Bible with them.The Bible. It’s still relevant. Who knew?On the Radio Talking about the Younger Unchurched… — EdStetzer.com...
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Whatever…

by The RevNo Comments
The sermon from July 19 was lost. So, I am putting up a manuscripted version of it for those that want to take a look at what was said but missed it. It’s not exact but hits the same points.Hebrews 12:18–29We don’t believe that God is who he says he is and therefore we we don’t care.The question that we are answering this morning is this:Why is there a deep apathy in the family of God? Why has there been no cryor repentance for our nation’s sins just as Daniel did for Israel? Romans 1:18–32 speaks of God’s wrath against man because of his progressive downward spiral. Why no repentance?This question is fundamentally about what we believe. A.W. Tozer said in his remarkable book, Knowledge of the Holy that “the most important thing about you is what comes into your mind when you think about God.” I think that is one of the most profound statements in Christian literature. Everything...
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Connector Churches

by The RevNo Comments
I read this today and thought that the nine traits listed in Ed’s book are really insightful. What do you think?http://blogs.lifeway.com/blog/edstetzer/ Creating Deeper CommunityChurches that are effective at attracting and developing young adults place a high value on moving people into a healthy small group system. Young adults are trying to connect and will make a lasting connection wherever they can find belonging. Making a Difference through ServiceChurches that are transforming young adults value leading people to serve through volunteerism. More than being pampered, young adults want to be part of something bigger than themselves and are looking to be part of an organization where they can make a difference through acts of service. Experiencing WorshipChurches that are engaging young adults are providing worship environments that reflect their culture while also revering and revealing God. More than looking for a good performance, young adults desire to connect with a vertical experience of worship. Leveraging TechnologyChurches that are reaching young adults are willing to communicate...
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The Blue Parakeet — A Review

by The RevNo Comments
First, Dr. McKnight and Zondervan thank you for the advance copy.–The Blue Parakeet is a text that discusses how we actually read the Bible. Dr. McKnight brings up two key ideas throughout his short work. His first organizing principle is the concept that the Bible was written in a certain period’s time and ways. The second is that we are to read the Bible alongside of tradition as opposed to through it.Dr. McKnight seeks to challenge some of the assumptions that we have regarding how we read the Bible. He begins with a discussion of his own history where people would “read the Bible and do what it says” even though as he began reading the Bible for himself he realized that they did not do all it says. This then leads to the dominant question that he seeks to answer: how do we read the Bible in our times and our ways?The book is divided into four parts, “What...
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Where Are You From?

by The RevNo Comments
The Hansen Report: Where Are You From? | Out of Ur | Conversations for Ministry Leaders.This article is quality. I think that the ramifications are huge for a congregation like the one that I am a part of. We live in a suburban setting and there are tons of church choices.This reality makes implementing change very difficult. The reason for this is that instead engaging with the body in the midst of change the “I will go to that other church” card is played. This also frees people from having to engage with the church when there are deficiencies.When my wife and I moved back to the Detroit area we decided to choose a church and not shop for a church. This meant that we never visited a different church. We came to our church and stayed. No matter what.We believed that any weaknesses in the church were things that God had for us to step into there.It makes me...
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Phase two…

by The RevNo Comments
So, I have been writing a bit about the big picture of what missional is and exploring some things here and asking questions. Most of these questions I don’t have answers for, it’s a bit frustrating for a guy who usually has answers for EVERYTHING!It’s hard to be in a place where you feel like everything is up for grabs. Where you are evaluating so much of what you believe and what you think. It’s good though because I am realizing how little I know and how little really matters. But, the things that do matter are critical.In light of all this, I want to take a bit of a detour. I have been thinking a bit about two issues that seem to me as very important for our time.Communion. Baptism. It seems that both of these issues are ones that either have been forgotten about (communion) or are taken for granted (baptism). Over the next couple of weeks or so I...
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Who leads this whole thing?

by The RevNo Comments
The one questiont that I have been wrestling with in conversation with a friend and as a result of reading The Forgotten Ways is the issue of authority. What does it mean? Who is in authority? Is there leadership anymore? What does it all look like in reality, right here, right now? Are we all to do what is right by our own personal hermeneutic? Are we simply to do what feels good? Is it “just Jesus and me”? What is the role of the community of God’s people? What are the individual roles within that body? Are some called to lead? Are some called to follow? What do we do with the Bible? What do we do with our heritage of the visible church?The answers are not easy in coming. But the list of questions continues to grow. Check out our conversation here....
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