Eugene H. Peterson: A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society
Studies in the Psalms of Ascents.
George G., III Hunter: The Celtic Way of Evangelism
Currently reading (& blogging).
The One Year Chronological Bible NIV (One Year Bible: Niv)
God's story.
Mika: Life in Cartoon Motion
My daughters' favorite.
David Crowder Band: Remedy
Still my favorite...
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Tonight at 12:01AM. Regal Hoyt 12 in Concord, NH (yep, we're traveling to see this debut). You interested? Drop me a comment or give me a call. Then take a nap. Here's a little something to whet your appetite.
Technorati Tags: Interactive Sermon, Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian, Switchfoot
Currently reading and reviewing here on the blog.
Okay, I'm just being honest - this author's obsessive use of scare quotes (see my former post on this book, here) is driving me crazy. Somewhere there is an English/Grammar teacher in this guy's past that is cursing under her breath as she reads. Thankfully, chapter one, The Gospel to the Irish, is worth the read despite the grammatical gaffs.
As previously mentioned, the early part of the first chapter sets the framework for Patrick's work in Ireland. His missionary work began as he was commissioned a Missionary Bishop to Ireland by British Bishops with the strong encouragement of Pope Celestine in A.D. 432.
The first real gem of the chapter is a detailed explanation of how the civilized world saw the Celtic tribes as barbarians - their view, then, of missions was that these people first needed to be civilized and then secondly evangelized. Hunter does a good job of describing this faux pas of early missions - defining people as uncivilized who were culturally different, and straining to re-culture them as part of evangelizing. He left off this path in and around the time of Patrick - he well could have continued the case to much of modern missions endeavors had he chosen.
The next segment of the chapter that has spurred much thought for me is an explanation of how crucial Patrick's familiarity with the Irish people and their ways were to his ministry. The author stresses from Patrick's example, "There is no shortcut to understanding the people. When you understand the people you will often know what to say or do, and how. When the people know that the Christians understand them, they infer that maybe the God they serve understands them too." I would add a hearty amen. It was the years of Patrick's living among the Celts and the love that grew in his heart for them that made a huge difference.
Hunter also includes a number of historical factors that may have enhanced the receptivity of the people to Patrick's ministry. These kinds of things thrill me, as I tend not to see them as coincidences, but rather evidences of God's being at work revealing Himself in a given setting.
The penultimate section of the chapter is the descriptive of Patrick's ministry vehicle - an apostolic entourage. Patrick's team included a dozen or so missionaries, a few women among them. Upon arriving they would seek the approval of local leaders to camp nearby the community, and then they would simply live among the people and minister along the way of daily life. They would become responsive neighbors. They would engage those who seemed interested. They would visit and pray for the sick. They would care for the needy. And in time, whole communities would receive the gospel. They would plant indigenous churches, and move on to other communities - returning ever-so-often to visit.
Hunter, then, concludes the chapter with the realization that the generation of succeeding Bishops in the church lost sight of this great way of evangelism. They began to see the role of ministers as being to their own. A Bishop's primary responsibility became ministry in existing churches where faithful souls gathered. The church returned to being offended that resources were being spent on barbarians. It was deemed a waste. Patrick couldn't have disagreed more. In his words, "It has come about in Ireland that peoples who had no acquaintance with God are recently made a people of the Lord, and children of the Living God. For God gave me such grace, that many people through me were reborn to God, and afterward confirmed and brought to perfection."
What do you think? I'm on to chapter two next.
Don't taze me, Bro!
Mom ~ My mom is having some surgery today in Florida and my prayers are with her. It's not one of those life and death things, but scary for her nonetheless. Your prayers for her are appreciated.
I Told You So ~ I caught Hillary's speech last night in West Virginia (I know, I am a glutton for punishment). Did you hear her mention many times over that "ALL the delegates should be seated" from Florida and Michigan. Uh huh. Then again, she did win WV hands down. I guess it's safe to say she carries the moonshine making, cousin marrying, hillbilly vote.
Dottie Rambo ~ Gospel music legend Dottie Rambo died this past weekend in a bus accident. You can read about it here. I remember seeing her at the Grand Ole Opry with my folks when I was a child. Sad. Her music, for the most part, wasn't my style, but she was one of the most prolific gospel music writers in Nashville with hits recorded by stars like Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner over the years.
On A Happier Note ~ Prince Caspian opens Friday. I'm hoping to go. Anyone want to join me? Haven't picked a time yet. I'm thinking Cinemagic in Merrimack, though. See the trailer here.
Technorati Tags: Hillary Clinton, Dottie Rambo, Prince Caspian
As we gather to worship tomorrow morning, I am first of all glad to be back with the part of the Body that we call Christ's Church - it's great to be home.
Secondly, I am mindful of the calendar, in that this is a day set apart across the land to recognize Moms and the crucial role that Moms play in our lives.
As we prepare our hearts to worship, you might want to give a quick read through Exodus 1 through 15 or so. We'll be looking at Moses' calling together in the morning. Peter and members of the world famous Christ's Church worship band have a great list of songs prepared to lead us in song. I see a Crowder version of a great hymn, a Tomlin standard, and tunes from Lincoln Brewster and Matt Redman on the list. So, do come ready to lend your voice to the chorus of praise!
Whether at 9am or 11am, I look forward to joining with you in worship tomorrow!
This is a book I am currently reading and plan on reviewing here on the blog.
Introduction:
George Hunter III wrote this book. I have no idea who he is other than what the back cover of the book tells me - he is a Distinguished Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism. I won't hold that against him. The book was published by Abingdon Press in 2000. The title is The Celtic Way of Evangelism. The book's subtitle is "How Christianity Can Reach The West... Again".
A friend of ours recommended this book to me. In fact, I've seen the title batted about on a number of blogs the last few years, so when my friend mentioned it as a good read, I'd heard of it before. That friend and I have both been spinning a considerable amount of thought around the practice of Evangelism in the world we find ourselves in.
The Preface of Mr. Hunter's book speaks of the times we find ourselves in - specifically trying to Evangelize a post-modern culture. On a grammatical note, I nearly put the book down during the Preface. The author makes a very regular (read nearly-every-other-word) habit of emphasizing words by using quotations - a grammatical error that really (read I-am-neurotic) bothers me. Basically, this grammatical habit reminds me of the overly-demonstrative communication attempts of the Chris Farley SNL character Matt Foley, the motivational speaker who "lives in a van down by the river". Do you get the picture? Oh, and by the way, that last sentence offers a proper use of quotation marks as I quoted the famous Matt Foley biographical line.
Let me pontificate further. The use of quotation marks for emphasis in writing is known officially as scare quotes - or setting something out as shocking or ironic. You frequently see people do this physically in conversation, when they extend their arms during dialogue, and flash two fingers on each hand around their verbalizing a word. However, grammarians will tell you that the use of quotations to convey emphasis is an error. Proper form to convey emphasis would be setting the emphasis with context, or if it can not be spelled out obviously in context, by using italics (as I have done earlier in this paragraph).
Back to the book.
Once I got beyond the author's oft-employed scare quotes, he did a fine job with the Preface of setting our present cultural setting in comparison to other eras in church history, most notably the Celtic era of St. Patrick's day.
Chapter One, entitled The Gospel to the Irish, is a real gem. The author spends a considerable amount of time giving us the back-story of St. Patrick; his upbringing, conversion, and the manner in which he found himself an evangelist to the Celtic people. Three points are emphasized - each with an abundance of scare quotes (yeesh!) - first, Patrick's conversion to Christ, second his having been captive among the Celtic people for many years, and third, his having grown to love his captors over those years, as the underpinning of his calling. He also had a Macedonian Call of sorts (note the italics I employ for emphasis, students?). One night he had a dream that the very people who had held him captive were now in need of his ministry as a missionary among them.
There is much to gleam from chapter one about ministry and mission work, his day and age to ours. I will highlight a few of those in my next entry.
Any thoughts on Evangelism? St. Patrick? Grammar? Chris Farley?
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