Trading One Box for Another?
Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought
Categotry Archives: changing mindsets
The Issue of Authority–My Own Journey
Categories: changing mindsets, My Story
In the informal blog-circle in which I’ve found myself–many of whom, like myself, are going through different stages of re-thinking institutional Christianity–recently the issue of authority/leadership has come up. Because so many have been wounded through abusive leadership (or even well-intended leadership operating in a broken system), there are some understandable questions being raised about whether we’ve got the authority issue right. Does Jesus intend us to submit to human spiritual authority, or is He alone our Shepherd and leader?
I have a lot of thoughts on this myself, and right now they are all kind of jumbled. In other words, if I put them down here now, they’d probably look like this:
Looking Both Ways
Categories: changing mindsets, church, house church
There’s a line in Rob Bell’s book Velvet Elvis that I’ve been pondering:
“…this pursuit of Jesus is leading us
backward as much as forward.”
I see that there is a lot of truth in this statement.
The In-Between
Categories: changing mindsets, Meanderings (look it up)
I like to look at a thing from lots of different angles–both close-up and as part of the big picture.
As I’ve said in earlier posts…I believe that the church is on the cusp of a great shift. I think the growing number of individuals who are finding themselves detatching from institutional Christianity–although they often feel isolated and alone–are actually the beginning of a major structural re-shaping of the church.
Re-Defining vs. Rejecting
Categories: changing mindsets, church, food for thought
There is a great deal of transition going on right now. More and more people are at different stages of re-thinking the institutional forms of church that we’ve had for centuries. That process can be admittedly a bit messy at times, even within our own souls. We may change opinions frequently as we try, with God’s help, to figure things out.
Questions About House Churches
Categories: changing mindsets, church, house church
In participating in Glenn’s synchroblog a couple of days ago, Tera Rose left a comment on my post sharing a negative experience she’d had in trying to do a home fellowship, and asked some excellent questions about house church. They were so good that I felt it was worth writing a post to respond to her. Below is an excerpt of what she wrote:
The Great Shift–and My Unwitting Part In It
Categories: changing mindsets, church, My Story
(The following entry is part of a synchroblog sponsored by Glenn at Re-Dreaming the Dream.)
Two or three years ago, a national Christian magazine published an article about the growing number of “stay-away saints” in America–millions of professing believers who are not regularly attending organized church anymore, but many of whom still maintain a vibrant faith. The article attempted to cover both sides of the trend, quoting people who expressed concerns about it and those who felt perhaps it is the sign of healthy change. But interestingly, the underlying theme of the article, and indeed the entire issue of the magazine, was this: “Come back to church.” Instead of addressing the issues that caused these Christians to feel disillusioned, discontent, or out-of-place in institutional Christianity, the message was just that these people should return to the very institutions that had alienated them, for more of the same.
What We Were Never Meant to Be
Categories: changing mindsets, Meanderings (look it up), religion
So I’m working out in the gym this morning, and the song “Losing My Religion” by R.E.M. comes up on my ipod. As I listened and pondered the lyrics, I thought about maybe covering that song someday with a band.
And then I remembered a day years ago when that thought would have totally offended me. I used to turn the radio off when that song played, because I assumed it was anti-Christian. Now I have it on my ipod, and the title inspired my blog name.
De-Construction: Sharing the Love by Linkage
Categories: changing mindsets, fun
Apparently, unwittingly, and happily (note the amazing use of adverbage), I have found myself in the midst of a wonderful ongoing conversation in the blogosphere. Many are sharing where they are at in their journeys of “de-construction”, of re-thinking and sometimes leaving behind long-standing mindsets about how to “do church” and what “church” should look like, as well as what their own path of discipleship should look like. A lot of great thoughts and comments are being posted by others, both here in the comments and on other blogs.
Here are some more pieces of the conversation, other postings which are worth checking out:
Here’s Mud In Your Eye
Categories: changing mindsets, religion
