The Connexion Magazine January 2015
On Wednesday, there was a post about a new Methodist magazine, and how the first issue would concentrate on evangelism.
I was asked on Twitter where you could get hold of it. I now know that you can download it as a PDF.
There are also details of how to receive a print copy.
Wi-Fii by Kristin Marshall on Flickr. Some rights reserved.
So claims well-known evangelism expert – er – Andrew Lloyd-Webber. Read more here.
Does he have a point?
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,200 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 37 trips to carry that many people.
Fluffy Plants by Tom Olliver on Flickr. Some rights reserved.
With a few honourable exceptions, church as we know it isn’t reaching new people for Christ. Is it possible that all our talk of turning around existing churches is wrong? Might we be better offering terminal care to older churches while bringing to birth newer congregations that are more attuned to the generations that are absent from our traditional churches?
American Baptist thinker Ed Stetzer proposes six reasons why existing churches should plant new churches. And actually, his six reasons (especially number four) hold out hope that older congregations will themselves be revitalised by the process.
Is your church planting another? Is your group of churches considering it?
Safety Pins by Mauro Cateb on Flickr. Some rights reserved.
The Parable of the Talents ends with castigation for the servant who ‘plays it safe’ by burying a talent.
Is our contemporary addiction to safety one reason why we can be ineffective in Christian mission?
Consider these words of Hugh Halter:
Posts on this blog will be sporadic over the next couple of weeks, due to a family situation. If you are not already subscribed (either by email or through WordPress), please do so and you will then be notified as soon as posting resumes.
Thank you for your understanding.
How one Christian’s grace rather than condemnation led a young, hurting woman out of the p*rn industry:
It’s surprising what a simple, courageous and loving conversation can do.
Norman Ivison summarises seven misconceptions about Fresh Expressions of Church. They are well worth reading, since many of these are often heard from seasoned churchgoers who are reluctant to support new, culturally relevant ways of reaching people for whom church as we know it is a foreign country.
Here is the Anglican video he mentions:
John Ryeland
John Ryeland of the Christian Healing Mission invites us to ask this simple question: how can I show love today?
Would a simple daily prayer like that revolutionise Christian mission?
Birthday Cake by Will Clayton on Flickr. Some rights reserved.
Pope Francis seems to have it right: mission is not about doing attractive things in our Gothic buildings (or whatever architectural fad we follow), it is about inviting people to a feast. And he doesn’t simply mean, “Come to Mass.”
Perhaps he knows this wonderful story that Tony Campolo tells: arriving in Hawaii from the US mainland, his jet-lagged body kept him awake, and he found himself at a Honolulu diner in the middle of the night. Many of the clientele at 3:30 in the morning turn out to be local prostitutes. One, named Agnes, was commenting that the next day would be her birthday, but she received nothing other than a surly response from one of her friends. Agnes replied that she wasn’t angling for anything. She didn’t want a present, and she had never in her life had a birthday party.
Campolo had a word with Harry,the owner of the diner, and his wife. As a result, the next night there was a birthday banner up for Agnes, and a chocolate cake. Everyone sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to her when she came in at 3:30. The cake, with lit candles, was brought out and Harry urged Agnes to blow the candles out so that everyone could have a piece.
Dumbfounded, Agnes asked Harry if she could keep the cake a little while first. He agreed, and she took it to her home, a couple of doors away.
As people stood in stunned silence, Campolo offered to pray. At the end of his prayer, Harry said, “Hey! You never told me you were a preacher. What kind of church do you belong to?”
“I belong to a church that throws birthday parties for whores at 3:30 in the morning.”
“No you don’t,” said Harry. “There’s no church like that. If there was, I’d join it. I’d join a church like that!”
Was Harry right?
Thinking About Mission 