Why is Christian Culture Bad?

Posted on November 17, 2008

This weekend I was in San Antonio Texas to cheer my wife on in her second marathon. She finished strong and I am so proud of her (more to come on that)! It’s weird being out of Austin and seeing so much bad Texan Christian culture. The notion that Christians should have their own sub-culture is a very interesting topic. One that we will only briefly address here by way of your commentary on some case studies.

Below are some pictures of several Christian T-shirts my wife and I found while we were on the Riverwalk in San Antonio, a place where a wide array of ethnicities and cultures of the world converge. Embedded in this cornucopia of cultural diversity, I found the following shirts. As you look at them, share why you think they reflect good or bad Christian culture. Have fun!

xnhappyhour

xnmyspace

xnstarbucks

Yes, I bought all of them and will start preaching in them each Sunday. Just kidding.

Church Planting Models

Posted on November 14, 2008

There are a variety of Church Planting Models. If you think you don’t fall into one of these, you’re probably ignorant or arrogant. I wanted to break the mold when I started planting. Then, I realized that God uses all of them. All these models, correctly or incorrectly assume that the planter is gospel focused. My hope is that, by laying these out, you will get a sense of where you are and how you might need to correct in the planting process to plant a better church, to cultivate a more missional people.

  1. Program-driven: mission by program, by generation
    Southern Baptist Churches
  2. Purpose-driven: mission by purpose, by paradigm
    Saddleback Churches
  3. Community-driven: mission by people, by relationship
    House, Cell, Missional Communities
  4. Seeker-sensitive: mission by profile, by target group
    Willow Creek Churches
  5. Ministry-driven: mission by mission, by ministry
    Community Development, Evangelistic/Gatherables

Which do you identify with and why? Are all of the models missional? In what sense?

[1] Adapted from The Church Planting Village, North American Mission Board: http://www.churchplantingvillage.net/site/c.iiJTKZPEJpH/b.784555/k.D77/Church_Design_Models.htm

Lewis on Community

Posted on November 14, 2008

He works on us in all sorts of ways. But above all, he works on us through each other. Men are mirrors, or carriers of Christ to other men. Ususally it is those who know Him that bring Him to others. That is why the church, the whole body of Christians showing Him to one another, is so important. It is so easy to think that the church has a lot of different objects – education, buildings, missions, holding services … the Church exists for no other purpose but to draw men to Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any
other purpose.  – C.S. Lewis

Not sure how this quote came together, Doug? Part of it is from Mere Christianity.

Kanye West the Jordan of Music?

Posted on November 14, 2008

In a recent interview Kanye West claimed what Jordan is to basketball, Kanye is to music. No surprise from the hubris-inflated pop star. Par for the course. But then he went on to make the following claim:

I realize that my place and position in history is that I will go down as the voice of this generation, of this decade, I will be the loudest voice,” he said in an interview on Wednesday.

Kanye West–voice of this generation? What do you think?

Review of Graduation