Cwillz Spills

I was recommended this video.  It’s a panel hosted by some of the editors over at Chrisitanity Today.  The panel members include both critics, participants, and young unassociated listeners of/to the emerging/Emergent church movement.  I encourage you to watch the whole thing and not just parts, as each panelist shares a unique part of their stories at different times.  It is 88 min long, so take the time if you have a strong opinion or listen to a leader who has chosen to take either a pro/against stance on the Emerging conversation:

A few questions I ask about this:

Where are the women/non white males?

What is the difference between philosophical postmodernism and cultural postmodernism?

What if the panel started with each member sharing the gospel?

What is the frustration really about? It seems to me that it all boils down to someone being personally disaffected in some way with other Christians in the past.

This quote was read towards the end, and I also had read the article and thought it was an awesome response (Mark Galli, CT, “On the Lasting Evangelical Survival”)

What I will do, to my dying day, is work with anyone who knows he was lost but now is found, whose Bible is worn because she repeatedly looks there for God to speak, who finds the Cross the most meaningful of symbols, for whom the Resurrection is not just a doctrine but a power, and who wants nothing more than to find new and creative ways to share the evangel of Jesus in word and deed. I’ll work with these people no matter what scholars decide to call them.

AMEN!

May the Lord’s will be done,

CWillZ

Not talking about cocaine.  Sorry.

I haven’t blogged in a bit.  It’s hard to get back in the habit.

Update:

1) there is some cool discussion happening over at Adam’s blog with ex-christians and a few of us youth pastory types.

2) We have seen several students begin to follow Christ recently!

3) I’ve been fishing, either with tremendous success or tremendous failure.

4) Tatango is sweet.

5) I started writing a book.  If you are the type of person that thinks about the direction of the American church/the holisitic Gospel/evangelism as social justice and social justice as evangelism, you should talk to me as I write.

6) I’ve been teaching a high school small group on Genesis, reading up on interpretations of Revelation, and letting Jesus ruin my life as I know it by reading Luke-Acts.

7) I’ve discovered the glory that is “The Bible Experience” by Zondervan.  They hired a bunch of celebrities to read the Bible….finally I have a better way of hearing it as the story I should hear it as. It’s fresh, legit, and true; Word (of mouth) of God.

That’s the Q&D. I’ll posting.

May the Lord’s will be done,

CWilLZ

This is for my students that recently attended an evangelism equipping weekend called Dare 2 Share.  We learned that there are 3 levels of sharing your faith. The first was telling. The second is explaining. The third is discussion.  Greg Stier used (overused IMO) a surfing term “shredding the gnar” for taking the hard but best road of discussing your faith and being willing to engage in the difficult questions and doubts that will arise.  Students were asked to immediately share their faith even before the weekend was over.  The Lord moved in our lives and in the lives of the people we have been talking to about our God.

Students and other fellow evangelists, I have some words for you. Some things not to forget:

1) John the Baptist and Jesus both preached repentance and baptism for the sake of the Kingdom.  Repentance is leaving life as you knew and and being baptized is joining with Christ as a part of his Kingdom as a forgiven person. Saying some words is not the same as walking out of a life of death into a life of freedom and light. As you tell people about Jesus, don’t forget that he told us that we would probably die, suffer, be made fun of, and be misunderstood for following Him.  Are they ready to do it for real?

2) The Kingdom is good news indeed. God wants things to be right between you and him, you and others, and even the whole world.  His way is what we are signing on for. It is not our way, but much much better.  Sometimes we can’t see that, but trust Him.

3) You are being saved from hell and being released from sin, but you are also being brought into a life of faith that is lived out in love and obedience.  God’s will for your life is about today as well as tomorrow.

4) The Gospel means a personal relationship, but it also means joining in doing things God’s way and having the privilege of being a part of a movement and purpose existed before time and has changed the lives of millions already.

5) If you don’t have answers, it doesn’t mean your faith is worthless. We were made to search for God together.

6) The power that raised Christ from the dead is alive and works through us.

7) If God is asking you to tell someone about Him, do it.  Do it well. That is your part. It is the Spirit’s who changes hearts.

I love you guys and am amazed at what God is doing through you.

May the Lord’s will be done,

CWillz

Our posture to the world needs to be one of hands raised in support, open, steady, and supported by the fear and love of God.  All too often we start with open, supportive, weak-yet-empowered hands that influence out world and fellow humans towards love, justice, peace, and godliness–only to later close our fists to grasp control, not realizing that a closed hand will eventually lead to a closed heart and a saltless life that is only a shell of the Gospel which once was allowed to live through us.

May the Lord’s will be done,

CWillz

This is for my students, friends, and others who have patiently endured me drawing this on napkins and white boards:

Thanks Adam, Arloa, and Carl Ellis for sharing.

Love the charts, gotta love the charts.

May the Lord’s will be done,

CWillZ

To give is both a privilege and a duty, and it is downright fun to point attention to people who are doing great things and then play a role.

This month we decided to give to New Life International, an organization that is spreading the Gospel while and by providing the basic necessity of clean water. 

The rationale for giving here is easy: About a sixth of our neighbors in the world do not have access to clean water. 

You should know that Jesus says this in Matthew 25:

4″Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

 37“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

 40“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

 41“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

 44“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

 45“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

 46“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

If you are looking for a trustworthy place to do things for the “least of these”, New Life International is a solid choice.

May the Lord’s will be done,

CWillZ