Categotry Archives: changing mindsets

by

Selfish Christianity

8 comments

Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought, theological questions

Cred where cred is due…Co-heir sparked my thoughts with what he wrote here…and this post below is what came out. 🙂

I’ve mentioned numerous times here that my rather broad church background (from liturgical to evangelical to charismatic) includes my family’s involvement in the Word of Faith movement–which for some is associated not so much with the concept of faith it teaches as the “prosperity gospel” it promotes. This particular message receives a great deal of flack, and is caricatured as a grouping of well-dressed preachers who support their extravagant lifestyles by talking people into giving their money to them–citing Scripture to say that God will return their donations 100-fold.

This is a preview of Selfish Christianity. Read the full post (1282 words, 1 image, estimated 5:08 mins reading time)

by

The Elusive Search for It

3 comments

Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought

Seems like everyone these days is looking for It. And not really finding It.

On all the TV talent and dance shows, the judges are looking to see who has It. On American Idol this year, it sure seemed like Adam Lambert had It. He stood (literally) head and shoulders above the rest of the pack, and was obviously the judges’ favorite. But he came in second.

This is a preview of The Elusive Search for It. Read the full post (1330 words, 2 images, estimated 5:19 mins reading time)

by

Lose the Bathwater, Keep the Baby

9 comments

Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought, theological questions

Two things you should know about me:

  1. I’m a student of human nature.
  2. I have a tendency to see patterns.

These two things combined can get me in a lot of trouble sometimes, because sometimes they lead me to do the math when it would be better to let things ride and not draw conclusions. But at other times they help me have some insight, to make sense of things going on around me, and to know what, if anything, I can do about them.

This is a preview of Lose the Bathwater, Keep the Baby. Read the full post (1395 words, 2 images, estimated 5:35 mins reading time)

by

Not What We Believe, But How We Believe

8 comments

Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought

Ellen Haroutunian recently posted a thought-provoking piece about the church’s subtle shift in the focus of our worship, how we have made an idol of orthodoxy rather than following the living Christ. Worth the time to read, but my mind has taken a rabbit trail on a few of her thoughts…particularly when she shares how easily tempers can flare when someone even suggests we have a problem in this area. Here’s a snippet from her post:

This is a preview of Not What We Believe, But How We Believe. Read the full post (1733 words, 1 image, estimated 6:56 mins reading time)

by

"ReJesus" Review Part 1: A Conversation with Michael Frost

1 comment

Categories: books, changing mindsets, church, Jesus

As mentioned previously, in conjunction with reviewing the book ReJesus: A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church…I had the opportunity to chat with one of the book’s authors, Michael Frost. Michael serves as Vice-Principal of Morling College in Sydney, Australia, and is the director of the Tinsley Institute at the college. Besides co-authoring two books with Alan Hirsch (ReJesus is their second collaboration), Michael has written numerous books on his own, Exiles probably being the most well-known. He is also the founder of the missional community “smallboatbigsea”, and travels and speaks internationally.

Distance being an issue, we opted to converse by online chat. Below is the transcript of our conversation. Due to the length of the conversation, I’ve chosen to break the review into two posts. My actual review of the book will be posted tomorrow.
______

This is a preview of "ReJesus" Review Part 1: A Conversation with Michael Frost. Read the full post (2261 words, 2 images, estimated 9:03 mins reading time)

by

Hijacking the Mission

5 comments

Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought, missional

All through March in house church, we’ve themed our meetings around “the mission of Christ”, or missio Dei, whatever term you use to describe it. We’ve been pondering the idea that God has been at work in the earth before we ever got here, that He is working in people’s lives before we encounter them, and will remain after we leave. We’ve talked about how we can participate in God’s mission, and we’ve encouraged one another not to spend this time just trying to “find our place” in the mission, but to try and tap into the heart of it.

In thinking and studying about this, I’m seeing how important it is that we absorb this simple truth, that mission belongs to God, not to the church. Why is it so important to make this distinction?

This is a preview of Hijacking the Mission. Read the full post (1077 words, 2 images, estimated 4:18 mins reading time)

by

Why We Should Sort of Take It Easy on the Pastors

3 comments

Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought, Rantings

For the past few days I’ve been pondering the whole clergy-laity thing, and the idea of leadership within the context of the institutional church. A couple of days ago, I invited the readers to discuss whether human church leadership is Biblical–and there was a lot of very helpful input and insight left in the comments (thanks!). Yesterday, I weighed in on the conversation in this separate post.

Today, because I think/hope it will lend perspective…I have some thoughts about the abuse of authority in the church–from the leaders’ standpoint.

This is a preview of Why We Should Sort of Take It Easy on the Pastors. Read the full post (1476 words, 1 image, estimated 5:54 mins reading time)

by

Destiny, Overdone (part 2: Traveling Light)

5 comments

Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought, My Story

In sharing some of my own story in my previous post, I shared how I grew up with a sort of “promise child” mentality, and how that caused me to have a warped view of destiny and calling. In this post, I’ll be talking about how God has adjusted my perspective. And forgive me in advance if I talk a lot about myself in this post; please know that I’m just processing some personal stuff, and letting you in on it. 🙂

After re-reading the last post, I can really see a need for a “part 2” (which I was going to do anyway). There really needs to be some clarification here. So let me start with that.

This is a preview of Destiny, Overdone (part 2: Traveling Light). Read the full post (1360 words, 2 images, estimated 5:26 mins reading time)

by

Destiny, Overdone (part 1: "Promise Child")

1 comment

Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought, My Story

For a combination of reasons I still don’t quite comprehend, probably going all the way back to the womb…I grew up with a “promise child” mentality. I have had an inflated sense of responsibility for as long as I can remember. I was a perpetual overachiever, was always considered the smartest kid in the class, had an acute sense of conscience bordering on torment, and showed an interest in spiritual things beyond my years. Also, my gift for music blossomed at an early age, which garnered me even more attention. And being an only child (read: my parents’ only shot at successful offspring) couldn’t have done anything but intensified the sense of expectation I felt. It seemed nearly every adult I connected with saw me as “special”, someone destined for some sort of greatness.

This is a preview of Destiny, Overdone (part 1: "Promise Child"). Read the full post (996 words, 1 image, estimated 3:59 mins reading time)

by

Life-Altering Moments of Truth

5 comments

Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought

I don’t know about you, but looking at my history, I can see certain points where the course of my life was dramatically altered by a “moment of truth.” In other words, I encountered a certain truth or revelation that shifted my paradigm, and after that moment, life looked different for me. Looking back, I can see how my path shifted from that point on.

I think this happens to all of us. Sometimes that “moment of truth” is a revelation from God, or sometimes it’s a wake-up call of something happening of which you were perhaps previously unaware. These moments of truth can be places of great joy, or great devastation and trauma. Either way, your world is rocked when they happen.

This is a preview of Life-Altering Moments of Truth. Read the full post (801 words, 1 image, estimated 3:12 mins reading time)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 … 11 12