Month: February 2009

Ken Myers: After Evangelism

Posted on February 5, 2009

Ken Myers of Mars Hill Audio will be speaking on: After Evangelism: Discipleship and the Cultural Life of Churches at Gordon-Conwell’s campus in South Hamilton, Massachusetts on Tuesday, February 24, 2009. Wish I could attend. Myers is as robust cultural critic and apologist. His thoughtful Mars Hill Audio program turns out volume after volume of diverse, well-researched, and engaging interviews and theological reflection.

Here is a Description of this Event: Since pastors are eager to reach many people with the message of the Gospel, they are often encouraged to adopt conventional cultural forms so as to reach people “where they are.” But the Gospel is not just a message to be accepted, but a way of life that is often out of sync with the way of life our culture extols. In this seminar, Ken Myers will offer a framework for assessing the common cultural practices and sensibilities, arguing that discipleship requires a more prophetic stance toward the culture around us than many churches seem willing to embrace.

Specific topics include…
(1) Wise Shepherds or Winsome Cruise Directors? Lessons from Titus on Cultural Ecology
(2) Consumer Goods: How Commodification Undermines Authority
(3) Idol Pursuits: How Celebrity Corrupts Identity
(4) A Way With Words: How Aliteracy Threatens Wisdom

Speaker Information: Ken Myers is the host and producer of the MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, an audio magazine exploring the dynamics of contemporary culture. He is a graduate of the University of Maryland, where he studied film theory and criticism, and of Westminster Theological Seminary. Formerly a producer for National Public Radio, he has worked on publishing projects with Charles Colson and Richard John Neuhaus. He is the author of All God’s Children and Blue Suede Shoes: Christian and Popular Culture (Crossway, 1989), and is working on a book entitled After Evangelism: Discipleship and the Cultural Life of Churches.

Preaching and Holy Hypocrisy

Posted on February 4, 2009

Ministers are noteworthy of their calling. All preachers are vulnerable to the charge of hypocrisy. In fact, the more faithful preachers are to the Word of God in their preaching, the more liable they are to the charge of hypocrisy. Why? Because the more faithful people are to the Word of God, the higher the message is that they will preach. The higher the message, the further they will be from obeying it themselves. ~ R.C. Sproul, The Holiness of God

Are you teetering closely to the edge of holy hypocrisy or are your sermons doable bits of moral advice? Are we pressing into the Word of God to encounter his holiness and grandeur or finessing deliveries to impress men with our personal insights? We have to ask ourselves, are we preaching higher and higher messages that threaten our discipleship with the promise of sanctifying joy or are we preaching lower messages that promote a numbing nominalism?

Role of Counseling in Mission

Posted on February 3, 2009

The Lausanne movement is a historic expression of evangelical mission. Some of the world’s finest theologians, missiologists, and practioners have contributed to the Lausaunne movement. In a recent article, a task force reported on the role of counseling in mission. Counseling is traditionally viewed as a critical part of pastoral ministry. How might it be missional? Have you experienced missional counseling?

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