by Robby McAlpine | Aug 5, 2019 | Cultural Engagement, Disciple Making, Discipleship, Evangelicalism, Missional, Practical Theology
We all know what George Orwell said in his famous dystopian novel 1984: “In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” The glistening irony of this quote is that Orwell neither said it nor wrote it. People tend to balk at hearing this. The...
by Robby McAlpine | Jul 2, 2019 | Cultural Engagement, Messy Church, Missional, Practical Theology, Prayer, Revival
The crackling fire provided a calming soundtrack to their yearly gathering. A log shifted, and a swirl of sparks gusted heavenward, the sizzling sound accented by a choir of crickets in the darkness and the occasional blip of unseen fish breaking the surface of the...
by Kenny Burchard | Sep 13, 2017 | Church Life, Cultural Engagement, Disciple Making, Evangelism, Missional, Practical Theology, World Misions
Protestants don’t typically like the biblical word “liturgy” (yep, it’s a biblical word. Keep reading!) because it is so often used as a synonym for dead religious rituals. That’s a mistake. In reality, it is a wonderful word that...
by Luke Geraty | Mar 29, 2017 | Church Life, Cultural Engagement, Leadership, Messy Church, Practical Theology, Preaching
I have a huge interest in homiletics, the art of preparing and delivering sermons. I’ve read dozens of books on the subject, written a lot on it, and trained a lot of preachers in the past decade, not to mention having taken a number of courses in my undergrad...
by Luke Geraty | Mar 14, 2017 | Church Life, Cross-Cultural Ministry, Cultural Engagement, Disciple Making, Discipleship, Evangelism, Leadership, Messy Church, Missional, Practical Theology, Preaching
Over the years I’ve been approached by a few people who wanted to either use the gifts they believed they had or be trained and equipped to minister through speaking (e.g., preaching, teaching, training, etc.). In simple terms, they wanted opportunities to speak...
by Robby McAlpine | Dec 31, 2016 | Church Life, Conflict Resolution, Cultural Engagement, Disciple Making, Discipleship, Ethics, Leadership, Missional, Practical Theology, Revival, Small Groups
“I’ve decided to stay out of those discussions, until I can be sure that we can have a non-hysterical conversation about it.” A “non-hysterical conversation”… The moment my friend casually uttered that phrase, I was immediately...
by Robby McAlpine | Nov 24, 2016 | Conflict Resolution, Cultural Engagement, Discipleship, Evangelicalism, Leadership, Practical Theology, Revival
If it hasn’t been obvious before, it’s obvious now — as in: ‘how could you possibly miss it?’ — that evangelicals need to do some serious soul-searching, humble themselves, and REPENT. And no, actually, this isn’t just a cheap...
by Brad Blocksom | Sep 27, 2016 | Church Life, Church Planting, Cross-Cultural Ministry, Cultural Engagement, Disciple Making, Discipleship, Evangelicalism, Evangelism, Family, Leadership, Messy Church, Missional, Money, Practical Theology, Prayer, Preaching, Small Groups
I came across these podcasts and, quite frankly, they were pretty eye opening for me (they’re kind of all related). So I wanted to share them here and see if we could get some good discussion going in the comments below. And, here they are: This one talks about...
by Robby McAlpine | Jan 19, 2016 | Cultural Engagement, Discipleship, Ethics, Evangelism, Messy Church, Practical Theology
There was this guy in the Old Testament who gets a lot of bad press. And when you read his story, you gotta admit: he deserves it. If anything, he serves mainly as an example of how not to do life. His name was Lot. He was Abraham’s opportunistic nephew, who has...
by Kenny Burchard | Jan 19, 2016 | Cultural Engagement, People of Interest, Politics, Practical Theology
I woke up this morning to discover “the media” (heh) hyperventilating about how they now have undeniable proof that Donald Trump is, like, a totally fake christian-n-stuff, because he said “Two Corinthians” in his speech at Liberty University....
by Luke Geraty | Dec 15, 2015 | Church Life, Cultural Engagement, Practical Theology
Boomers. Generation X. And now the Millennials. Sociologists can be very helpful for church leaders who are interested in understanding large demographic groups. As with all generalizations, these sociological observations are not perfect, but they are often quite...
by Able Baker | Dec 14, 2015 | Cultural Engagement
As a Christ follower there is a very distinct shape that my faith has had on my political convictions. When I read about the person and work of Jesus in the Bible I am absolutely amazed at how we as Christians allow our Televisions to shape the way we see the world. I...
by Robby McAlpine | Nov 24, 2015 | Cross-Cultural Ministry, Cultural Engagement, Ethics, Ethnic Reconciliation, Immigration, Missional, Practical Theology
The past week has been pretty overwhelming, hasn’t it? At least, that’s how I found it. Terrorist attacks in Paris. Syrian refugees. Shrill rhetoric. Chronic knee-jerking coupled with self-righteous finger pointing — from all sides. Life was so much...
by Brad Blocksom | Sep 2, 2015 | Church Life, Cultural Engagement, Devotionals, Evangelicalism, Evangelism, Healing, Missional, Practical Theology
Acts 8:25 …they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. (ESV) The church was booming in Jerusalem but they weren’t going into Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. So God scatters (v. 1, 4) the church through...
by Michael Sterns | Jul 24, 2015 | Church Life, Conflict Resolution, Cultural Engagement, Ethics, Ethnic Reconciliation, Family, Forgiveness, Healing, Immigration, Leadership, Messy Church, Practical Theology, Preaching, Social Justice, The Vineyard Movement
Last week, I wrote on Rich Nathan’s discussion on biblical leadership which he gave at the International Vineyard Conference held in Columbus, Ohio. Now, I will try to highlight another speaker. During the morning session at the conference on Thursday July 9,...
by Able Baker | Jun 24, 2015 | Cultural Engagement
I love the confederate flag! It reminds me of the Dukes of Hazard a totally sweet t.v. show from my childhood. I also love cotton, the bible, I also love my grandpa. All of these things could be described as reminders of racism. Latley a ton of ink is being spilled...
by Luke Geraty | Apr 28, 2015 | Cultural Engagement, Ethics, Ethnic Reconciliation, Forgiveness, Practical Theology, Social Justice
One of my children once made me so angry that I lost my temper and almost did and said things I would likely forever regret. I remember seeing her face and realizing that for the first time in her life, she was actually scared of me. It immediately chastened my temper...
by Kenny Burchard | Apr 25, 2015 | Cultural Engagement, Discipleship, Ethics, Gender Issues, Homosexuality, Marriage, Practical Theology, Sex
And now for a really geeky (but hopefully helpful) post about the usage and meaning of the word porneia in the book of Revelation. The word-group related to πορνεία (porneia) occurs 55 times in the entire New Testament. Interestingly, there are 19 occurrences of the...
by Luke Geraty | Apr 17, 2015 | Church Life, Church Planting, Cultural Engagement, Disciple Making, Discipleship, Evangelism, Leadership, Messy Church, Missional, Practical Theology, Small Town Church
At this year’s Society of Vineyard Scholars annual meeting, focused on “Thinking with the Church, Thinking with the Vineyard,” features a panel featuring three of our ThinkTheology.org contributors: Brad Blocksom, Kenny Burchard, and Luke Geraty....
by Brad Blocksom | Mar 25, 2015 | Church Planting, Cultural Engagement, Devotionals, Discipleship, Evangelicalism, Healing, Missional, Practical Theology, Prayer, Preaching
Mark 6:12-13 So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them. (ESV) Jesus sends out the twelve in pairs giving them His (not their own, inherent) authority to perform...
