I recently met up with some other Acts 29 guys.to discuss the new A29 regional events intended to help equip church planters of all stripes. The spirit behind these events is remarkably kingdom-centered, with established churches aiming to listen to planters (to resource them), and planters eagerly learning from seasoned leaders and planters. A particluar strength of the upcoming regional events are the practical workshops, which cover things like establishing financial systems, spiritual formation, and courage in planting.
Friend and fellow planter, Jacob Vanhorn, provides more info on the regionals here.
Author: Jonathan Dodson
Capital Punishment & the Cross
Richard Mouw’s reflections on captial punishment are worth reading.
The World We All Want
In search of a biblical-theological, culturally relevant, simple evangelism approach I came across Tim Chester’s The World We All Want. Here is a description of this course:
We all dream of a better world – a world of security, plenty and friendship. Christians believe that God promises just such a new world. The Bible is the story of God making that promise and keeping it. The World We All Want is for people who are interested in the message of the Bible. Developed by the Crowded House, The World We All Want is an evangelistic Bible overview.
One of the key points that Tim has emphasized is beginning our gospel “presentations” with new creation, not with sin. I the Austin context, this is pretty crucial. Beginning with sin smacks of legalism and self-righteousness, but beginning with what we all long for—and what God promises—a world put to rights, full of joy and justice connects with the longing of every human heart. It mines the seed of religion in the heart of man and graciously leads him to repentance over looking to lesser things for fulfillment of this longing.
I just ordered the accompanying book, so more to come. Tim has also graciously posted the pdfs of the session summaries for Alpha course like presentations.
Do we have to talk about sin (first) in Evangelism?
Should we start gospel conversations with sin? What about starting with new creation? Check the discussion just started in on this post and in the comments. Weigh in.