Spirit | Church | Mission

The Spirit empowered Church for the sake of God's Mission

3 Ways to Get More Invitations in Your Church

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Let’s be clear, inviting someone to church isn’t necessarily the same thing as sharing the gospel with them. And attending a church does not equate to having a transformative relationship with Jesus. There are plenty of people who attend churches all over the world who are not engaged in discipleship and whose spiritual lives are not shaped by the kingdom of God.

That being said, inviting someone to church may be the first step in their journey and the beginning stage of coming to faith in Jesus. If church gatherings create space where people are able to learn the ways of Jesus and engage, interact, and experience God, why wouldn’t we want to encourage people to invite their friends, family, and neighbors to our church gatherings? This is, I think, an aspect of joining God’s mission, especially here in the west, despite the post-Christian world we live in. Our church, the Red Bluff Vineyard, has seen some radical growth (over 1,000% growth) and I think a lot of it is related to some simple things we did that made it easy for everyone to participate!

Here are a few ways you can empower church folks to invite non-church folks to your church gatherings:

(1) Use social media. You may not be the most tech savvy human alive, but you need to realize that social media allows us to connect with literally thousands upon thousands of people that we would never come in contact with! Friends of friends and what have you. You simply cannot neglect this medium if you want to both empower people in your church to invite others and reach people outside of your church community. [Read more…]

Reading Scripture: Informational Versus Transformational?

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I’m reading a fascinating book recommended to me by my good friend Thomas Lyons titled Wesley, Wesleyans, and Reading Bible as Scripture, edited by Joel B. Green and David F. Watson. It’s of interest due to some of the similar challenges that we are facing in the Vineyard… issues related to the functional authority of Scripture, hermeneutics, etc.

My favorite essay in the book is Elaine A. Heath’s, “Reading Scripture for Christian Formation.” Heath provides a look at how John Wesley approached Scripture and, I think, persuasively argues that Wesley never read Scripture in a dualistic manner. [Read more…]

Happy Women’s Day: 6 Books You Need to Read

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Continuing my tradition of writing something in honor of International Women’s Day, I’d like to suggest six important books written by women addressing issues related to women within the Church:

Paul and Gender: Reclaiming the Apostle’s Vision for Men and Women in Christ by Cynthia Long Westfall. This was probably my favorite book of 2017. Cynthia is a fantastic author and a seriously legit NT scholar. If you have questions about what the Apostle Paul meant concerning gender in the New Testament, this book is a must read. The publisher’s summary of the book states:

“Respected New Testament scholar Cynthia Long Westfall offers a coherent Pauline theology of gender, which includes fresh perspectives on the most controverted texts. Westfall interprets passages on women and men together and places those passages in the context of the Pauline corpus as a whole. She offers viable alternatives for some notorious interpretive problems in certain Pauline passages, reframing gender issues in a way that stimulates thinking, promotes discussion, and moves the conversation forward. As Westfall explores the significance of Paul’s teaching on both genders, she seeks to support and equip males and females to serve in their area of gifting.”

[Read more…]

The Rhetoric of Love in a Tone Deaf World

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Communication in today’s world can be pretty challenging. We are overloaded with so many communication channels, whether it’s print media, social media, or face to face conversation. The art of “discussion” has increasingly become frustrating because often people simply have lost the skill of active listening.

Yes, communication in today’s world is challenging! [Read more…]

The Sacramental Nature of the Church

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If a sacrament is a means of grace, or to improve upon an Augustinian idea, a visible sign of both invisible and visible grace, how might the church be sacramental? 

This is a question I have long been wrestling with and the suggestion I made in my dissertation was that the Church herself is sacramental. In other words, I believe that the Church is a means of grace, a visible sign of grace, for the world to experience. [Read more…]