A tragedy in theological education

I’m reading another Eddie Gibbs book for uni at the moment called LeadershipNext, it’s the follow on from ChurchNext which I’ve posted on previously.
I couldn’t pass up posting this quote as it is a particular concern of mine.
One of the greatest tragedies in theological education has been the separation (to their mutual impoverishment) of ecclesiology [...]

Discerning a healthy community

More from Sam Metcalf over at Under the Iceberg. In a recent post he provides this list of questions to help discern whether our community is healthy, whether it is a context that nurtures healthy emotional and spiritual relationships.
1. Does the context use me or develop me?
2. Can authority be questioned?
3. Is conflict resolved [...]

Good missiology tells us …

In an insightful post entitled Two Cultures, Sam Metcalf over at Under the Iceberg brings this fascinating list of things that ‘good missiology tells us’. The context is a contrast of the new culture and the old in America which of course has some parallels here, but I’m particularly interested in the missiological principles he [...]

The Constant Gardener and the Kingdom of God

I just finished watching The Constant Gardener. I’m feeling a little overwhelmed really. It’s a very well made movie, I haven’t read any reviews of other people’s thoughts, but I thought it was excellent. It pushed my buttons in so many ways and brought me back to that question you constantly (no pun intended) face [...]

Open and Closed?

I’ve been speaking to a few people lately who are interested in joining our community. All of them Christians. It’s caused me to wonder what we should do when Christians want to join Loam.
Should we just let anyone and everyone who is interested join?
What does it mean to join?
Is there a danger that we’ll find [...]

The challenge of creating community in our culture.

Possibly my last post using a quote from Emerging Churches. I was plagued by this issue at my previous church and suspect it will be an ongoing challenge, both personally and in terms of our church plant.
Creating a vital community is a challenge in our current cultural context. People are both hungry for relationships and [...]

Theologically what is the relationship between the Church and the Kingdom of God?

This is a question I’ve been reading, thinking, dreaming, strategising about quite a bit lately. I thought this bit of theological basis from Emerging Churches was helpful.
The reign of God existed before the coming of the church, and it will replace the church at the consummation of all things, when Christ will reign supreme and [...]

Do emerging churches need to be small to be authentic?

I’ve had many conversations where people have commented that ‘emerging churches think they have to be small and struggling to be authentic.’ It always seemed a bit of a cheap shot, so I was pleasantly surprised to read this recently in
Emerging Churches
Joel McClure (Water’s Edge, Hudsonville, MI) looks to the future of their groups with [...]

Traumatic day at the office

Because I don’t get paid to run Loam I have to do something else to get money. I run a work for the dole project for Mission Australia at Northern Community Church of Christ. Today at Northern I had the most horrible day so far. Without going too much into the details of my day [...]

ACOM Missional Leadership Intensive with Stephen Said

The other week I had my first ACOM Intensive. Stephen Said was the facilitator and it was on the subject of Missional Leadership. I’m not a great note taker, in fact I really just wrote down things that interested me or that I was asked to. Anyway here are my notes …
One of the first [...]