Barnabas File

My Dad was a great story-teller. He had to go to work as a teen-ager to help support his family and finished high school GED, but he was an avid reader and knew the Bible better than many of us who have studied it all our lives.  He told stories about Bible characters that made them come alive. Stephen was that kind of story-teller.  When he was called upon to give a defense of his faith before the Assembly (Sanhedrin), he began with Abraham and told the story of the Hebrew people up to the time in which he lived.  The point of his story was not the one that his accusers were used to, however. The difference in his story and that of those who opposed him was that their story ended at a particular point with the Law and the Temple.  They considered the status quo as God’s ultimate expression.  Stephen shifted the paradigm and said, “The story doesn’t end there.  God is still working among God’s people.” In his story-telling, Stephen shifted the ...

In a recent blog , Tom Ehrich commented on those who are concerned that Christianity is “in trouble.”   He wrote,    “In fact, I would argue that Christianity isn't in trouble at all. Churches are in trouble. Denominations are in trouble. Institutions are in trouble. Professional church leaders are in trouble.” I agree with him.   The Christian faith will survive and prosper but some of the churches, denominations, institutions and professionals who attempt to represent the faith will not.   A student in one of my seminary classes observed, “What I have learned in this class is that every church or Christian institution starts out as missional but losses it way over time and must be renewed.” She nailed it. Churches and institutions are in need of continuous renewal.   Any organization can evolve new structures and strategies to meet opportunities and challenges without surrendering its core values.   A sure sign that a church, institutio...

Those who take the time to examine the history of the Christian church over the last two thousand years recognize that the church has always been in the process of reinventing itself.   Manifestations of the church that start out as fresh, creative approaches to impacting the surrounding culture ultimately become commonplace and stale as the world changes.   This calls for renewal and reimagining the way that we “do church.” Missional, Monastic, Mainline:  A Guide to Starting Missional  Micro-Communities in Historically MainlineTraditions by Elaine Heath and Larry Duggins is both a call to action and a guide for renewing the church by implementing a contemporary expression of a renewal methodology that is very familiar in the church—the monastic tradition. The first part of the book deals with the rationale for this approach—the need, the theological basis, and possible concerns.   Heath and Duggins are proponents of a missional ecclesiology, defin...