The Missional Perspective

HT: The Missional Challlenge

Nouwen on the Sins of the Church

“When we say, ‘I love Jesus, but I hate the Church,’ we end up losing not only the Church but Jesus too. The challenge is to forgive the Church. This challenge is especially great because the Church seldom asks us for forgiveness.”

-Henri Nouwen

Elton John's Moral Judgment

Homosexual singer, Elton John, blames the sinking popularity of Hillary Clinton on "sexism."

"I never cease to be amazed by the misogynistic attitudes of some people in this country," said John, wearing a spangled black evening coat over a vermilion silk shirt. "I say to hell with them. ... I love you, Hillary, I'll always be there for you."

Here and here.

A Bright Stainless Mirror....

If we let him... he will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into dazzling, radiant, immortal creatures, pulsating all through with such energy, joy, wisdom, and love as we cannot now imagine; a bright stainless mirror which reflects back to God perfectly, though of course on a smaller scale his own boundless power, light, and goodness. That is what we are in for, nothing less.

— C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

The New World Begun in the Resurrection of Jesus

The early church arrived at a belief that the royal presence of Jesus would be the central feature in a cosmic denouement that could occur at any time...[The Apostle] Paul had expected the kingdom to be ushered in all in one. The resurrection of Jesus, however, has forced him to divide the "end" into two "moments," with the church living in between, grounded on the first and longing for the second. The first (Jesus' resurrection) gives the content of the second (the final resolution) in a nutshell, expressing as it does God's victory over death and the transformation of the physical world. It also guarantees the second, since the risen Lord is now already ruling the world... when the heavenly dimension is finally unveiled, so that the royal presence of Jesus is visibly and tan- gibly with us at last, the dead will be raised and the living transformed, to share his new humanity within a transformed world. This will be the fulfillment of the new world, which began in Jesus' resurrection.

— N.T. Wright, The Meaning of Jesus

Has the Notion of Sin Disappeared?

Al Mohler on "Has the Notion of Sin Disappeared?"

USA Today article.

Kline Lectures

Meredith Kline Lectures

Outlines of The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification

Outlines of the Gospel Mystery of Sanctification

A Prayer Before You Preach

My Master God,
I am expected to preach today,
but go weak and needy to my task;

Yet I long that people will be edified with divine truth,
that an honest testimony will be given for you.

Give me assistance in preaching and prayer,
with heart uplifted for grace and passion.

Present to my view things pertinent to my subject,
will fullness of matter and clarity of thought,
proper expressions, fluency, fervency,
a deep emotion to accompany the words I speak,
and grace to apply them to people’s consciences.

Keep me conscious all the while of my defects,
and let me not gloat in pride over my performance.

Help me to offer a testimony for yourself,
and to leave sinners inexcusable in neglecting your mercy.

Give me freedom to open up the sorrows of your people,
and to set before them comforting consolations.

Give your power to the truth preached,
and awaken the attention of my slothful audience.

May your people be refreshed, melted, convicted, comforted,
and help me to use the strongest arguments
drawn from Christ’s incarnation and sufferings,
that people might be made holy.

I myself need your support, comfort, strength, holiness,
that I might be a pure channel of your grace,
and be able to do something for you.

Give me then refreshment among your people,
and help me not to treat excellent matter in a defective way,
or bear a broken testimony to so worthy a redeemer,
or be harsh in treating Christ’s death, its design and end,
from lack of warmth and fervency.

And keep me in tune with you as I do this work.

- Puritan Prayer, adapted by Kingdom People.

NTW on Jesus as the Coming Judge

“The picture of Jesus as the coming Judge is the central feature of another absolutely vital and nonnegotiable Christian belief: that there will indeed be a judgment in which the creator God will set the world right once and for all. The word judgment carries negative overtones for a good many people in our liberal and postliberal world. We need to remind ourselves that throughout the Bible, not least in the Psalms, God’s coming judgment is a good thing, something to be celebrated, longed for, yearned over. It causes people to shout for joy and the trees of the field to clap their hands. In a world of systematic injustice, bullying, violence, arrogance, and oppression, the thought that there might come a day when the wicked are firmly put in their place and the poor and weak are given their due is the best news there can be. Faced with a world in rebellion, a world full of exploitation and wickedness, a good God must be a God of judgment.”

“Surprised By Hope” pg. 137

Grace Marin Mission Statement

Grace Marin

Our Mission

PURPOSE: Why do we exist?

Grace Church of Marin exists to make the Gospel of Jesus Christ known in Marin County and, through it, the world.


VISION: What do we hope to accomplish?

We seek to tell and embody the transforming story of the historic Christian faith — a story of mercy, peace, and hope — that brings about changed lives, social healing, and cultural renewal in Marin.


MISSION: What will make our vision a reality?

God Exalting
We seek to honor God for all of his worth by crafting worship services that are both rooted in Scripture and the historic Christian faith and relevant to Marin; that are both edifying to the committed worshiper and engaging to the curious and skeptical seeker; that are both excellently prepared and dependently postured on God’s living Spirit.

Miracle Working
We seek to form partnerships with social service providers in order to create opportunities to extend both mercy and social justice to those who are hurting and disadvantaged in Marin. The extension of our service will seek to restore the weak (compassion), to re-neighbor our divided neighborhoods (community), to reclaim God’s heart for his creation (conservation), and to redeem our experiences with goodness, beauty, and truth (culture).

Story Telling
We seek to boldly and humbly posture ourselves to Marin—through organic and intentional relationships with our neighbors, colleagues, and friends with whom we live, work, and play—in a way that will help the curious and skeptical seeker feel intrigued, invited, and included in various venues for conversation and discussion about Christianity.

Community Building
We seek to create a welcoming and vibrant community by developing dynamic gatherings in which people can discover and practice Christianity, cultivate meaningful and supportive relationships, and receive pastoral care. Through these experiences and relationships we seek to mobilize people to serve, train new leaders, multiply our community presence, and promote Christian ethics in the marketplace in order to cast a broad net of love over our county.

Church Shaping
We seek to teach the Scriptures, offer the Sacraments (Baptism and Communion), and superintend the governance of our church in an intelligible and compelling manner that exalts God, edifies the committed worshiper, and engages the curious and skeptical seeker.

Kingdom Expanding
We seek to build relationships with existing churches and develop new churches in order that the Bay Area would enjoy more of God’s mercy, peace, and hope.

Park Slope PCA

is a worshipping communhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifity that exists to celebrate, in word and deed, the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our neighborhood and throughout Brooklyn.

The Devil is a Better Theologian

“The devil is a better theologian than any of us and is a devil still.”

- A.W. Tozer

Co-habitating Before Marriage Risks Marriage

Between 50 and 60 percent of all marriages begin with the two partners cohabitating, and many of those couples no doubt believe they are making a wise move up front. But living together before marriage actually increases the chances of divorce in a first marriage -- 67 percent of cohabitating couples who marry eventually divorce, compared to 45 percent of all first marriages....

"Men and woman cohabitate for different reasons," Mike McManus said in a conference call discussing the book. "Women see it as a step toward marriage. They think they can audition for this job. Men do it because they like to have the ready availability of sex and having someone share their living expenses. Women should heed their mother's advice -- if you give away the milk, he won't buy the cow."

Baptist Press: 'Living together' before marriage a statistical risk

Skepticism

"But you cannot go on "explaining away" forever: you will find that you have explained explanation itself away. You cannot go on "seeking through" things for ever. The whole point of seeing through something is to see something through it. It is good that the window should be transparent, because the street or garden beyond it is opaque. How if you saw through the garden too? ... a wholly transparent world is an invisible world. To "see through" all things is the same as not to see.

C. S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man, p. 48, quoted in Tim Keller, The Reason for God, p. 37.