From 6:4 Fellowship: While many Christians are relieved to see a conservative victory in the recent elections, it changes very little about the current moral state of our nation and the effects of the moral revolution we have seen over the last decade. Pastor and author, John S. Dickerson, forecasts the moral future of our nation … More Beyond a Moral Tipping Point?
When the church bells ring on Sunday morning, July 31, you’ll find several local church sanctuaries empty. But this doesn’t mean they won’t be worshiping. “Most Sundays we worship God with words and music,” says Pastor Meg Newswanger of First Presbyterian in Maple Plain. “On July 31 we will worship God with our hands and … More Sunday2Serve: The Church has Left the Building!
8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, … More PARABLES: Let’s Party 3 (Matt. 22:1-14)
Enjoy this challenge from my friend Mike Fox whose writings have been featured here in the past. -JB 100 years ago there was no television, no internet. News traveled slowly. Because of this a drought in Africa, a tsunami in SE Asia, or an epidemic in India might go unnoticed by most Americans. It was the … More Blistered Feet & Bloody Hands (by Mike Fox)
Our little community of Mound, Minnesota, is again making the local news. This time its the strange presence of a group of friendly “ninjas” dressed up in costumes and walking around town. They’ve been at it for a few months already. At first, people didn’t know what to make of it. Then people starting taking … More The Mound Ninja & the DNA of a Movement
Repost from 2010.-JB In this series we’ll be picking apart this episode in Luke 10 piece by piece, exploring what it looks like on the road to discipleship in the company of Jesus. “The Lord now chose seventy (-two) other disciples and sent them ahead of himself in pairs to all the towns and places … More Two by Two 2: Ahead of Himself
From Kevin DeYoung’s blog: Thom Rainer, President and CEO of Lifeway, argues that the secret to being an evangelistic church “is really no secret at all. Ultimately evangelistic churches see more persons become Christians through the passionate efforts of highly evangelistic Christians.” And what characterizes these highly evangelistic Christians? Read on (bold type added for … More Habits of Evangelistic Christians
“And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way” (Eph. 1:22-23). I live in a lake community surrounded by water. One large part of our town dwells on “the island” where you’ll … More EPHESIANS 9: Water Towers & Pipelines
A repost from 2009. -JB I had two very nice Jehovah’s Witness gals show up at my door this morning. I never quite know how to handle these encounters. I think these encounters are especially awkward for pastors/Bible teachers who are equipped to engage them in theological debate but don’t feel like that is the context … More Jehovah’s Witnesses at the Door
Reposted from summer 2013. -JB [The church]…is [Christ’s] body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:23). “God’s plan for the world is in the hands of the church….God’s intention is that all alien forces, all estranged persons, all warring elements are to be brought to unity. Christ is the center around … More The Greatest Cause on Earth
This post was written on the fishing opener on May 15, 2010. “As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mark 1:16-17) I came home … More Fishing Opener Is Here!
This is a powerful indictment on the contemporary church and our superficial level of commitment to the cause of being part of community-on-mission to reach our world. I’m praying that true communitas — a deeper togetherness formed around a shared mission or struggle — will characterized MainStreet in the days to come. Here’s Paul De Neui’s conclusion … More Communitas in the Church
“There is a story by Kukrit Pramoj, former prime minister and leading Buddhist scholar from Thailand, based on the New Testament account of a man born blind whom he called Simon. The story describes the difficult life of blind young Simon and how, upon the death of his father, life became desperate. Simon began to … More Living into the Missio Dei (by Paul DeNeui)
The article below by Lindy Lowly called The Church’s Sleeping Giant aptly captures the missional philosophy driving the vision and approach of MainStreet. This is why we exist – short and simple. Most church-goers simply don’t understand how our approach is different than the standard “come to us” model of church. I hope this article … More The Big Idea Behind MainStreet Church
I want to commend David Mathis’ challenge to Christians as we approach Halloween this year. Thanks, Nancy, for sending me this. What if a crisp October wind blew through “the way we’ve always done things” at Halloween? What if the Spirit stirred in us a new perspective on October 31? What if dads led their … More ‘Halloween on Mission’ (David Mathis)
This is a repost I thought worth sharing again. -JB I had a great conversation today with an old high school friend. She is a not a Christian, very unreligious and, as she said herself, “totally clueless when it comes to religion, Christianity, church, the Bible and stuff.” So, while she is not conversant in … More Talking Physical Fitness & Spiritual Health
Here’s a great evangelism resource from James Choung. Can you articulate the full story of the gospel and what God’s doing in the world in Christ through the church? Here’s a great start.
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!” Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby … More Adventures in Mark 3 (1:35-39)
On a prayer walk last night around midnight I was walking down the boardwalk connecting the public docks near the center of the town. The breeze was light, and there was lightning flashing on the western horizon — a beautiful display of light-works for a soul awaiting my own enlightenment. I found a large boulder … More Empty Docks and Wayward Vessels
“The true understanding of the Bible is that it tells a story of which my life is a part, the story of God’s tireless, loving, wrathful, inexhaustible patience with the human family, and of our unbelief, blindness, disobedience. To accept this story as the truth of the human story (and so of my story) commits … More QUOTABLES: Leslie Newbigin
Have you read “Organic Church” by Neil Cole? I’m about to. I’ve read all the buzz about this revolutionary movement of dissatisfied Jesus-f0llowers who dream of paving new inroads into a culture that has grown disinterested in the church-as-usual. I am one of them. I’ve been part of sparking this kind of missional Christianity in … More “Organic Church” by Neil Cole
Kingdom Harbor 