by Brad Blocksom | Feb 17, 2015 | Church Life, Church Planting, Cross-Cultural Ministry, Disciple Making, Discipleship, Evangelicalism, Evangelism, Leadership, Messy Church, Missional, Practical Theology
Bear with me for a minute: A guy (or gal) has a heart/gifting for evangelism. So what does he do? Does he become an evangelist? No she becomes the Pastor of a Church and endeavors to create an organization centered around her goal of soul-winning. She turns every...
by Brad Blocksom | Jan 6, 2015 | Disciple Making, Discipleship, Evangelicalism, Evangelism, Missional, Practical Theology, Preaching, Revival, World Misions
That’s right! I’m calling for an end to Fire Insurance theology as the central thesis of Evangelicalism! Or at least the out-of-balance, singular emphasis on “soul-winning” – especially at the expense of discipleship. Another way to talk...
by Brad Blocksom | Dec 23, 2014 | Devotionals, Disciple Making, Discipleship, Evangelism, Leadership, Missional, Practical Theology
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. (ESV) Got satisfaction? No, I mean deep down in your soul! When its quiet and no one is there, and you’re left alone with nothing but your thoughts. Do you have...
by Brad Blocksom | Nov 28, 2014 | Church Life, Devotionals, Disciple Making, Discipleship, Evangelism, Missional, Practical Theology, World Misions
Zech. 6:13 It is he who shall build the temple of the LORD and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there shall be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” (ESV) I can’t help but go...
by Luke Geraty | Nov 20, 2014 | Church Planting, Disciple Making, Missional, Practical Theology
Similar to what I argued recently about how a disciple making movement becomes a church planting movement, I was scanning through portions of one of my favorite books ever written… Total Church, by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis. If you do not own this book, stop...
by Luke Geraty | Nov 11, 2014 | Church Planting, Disciple Making, Missional, Practical Theology, The Vineyard Movement
While I love the complex issues related to deep theological frameworks, I also really appreciate that Jesus boiled down the alleged 613 Laws of the Old Testament to two things: love God, love people (Matt. 22:36-40). And while I can appreciate the numerous purposes,...
by Luke Geraty | Sep 26, 2014 | Church Life, Church Planting, Disciple Making, Discipleship, Evangelism, Messy Church, Missional, Practical Theology, Small Groups, Small Town Church
As we’ve entered into the fall, our attendance at Trinity Christian Fellowship has been growing and we’re seeing new and old faces, together. It’s beautiful to see Jesus’ community gathered to experience the Spirit’s presence/empowerment....
by Brad Blocksom | Sep 2, 2014 | Church Life, Church Planting, Disciple Making, Discipleship, Evangelicalism, Evangelism, Leadership, Messy Church, Missional, Practical Theology, Prayer, Small Groups
We’ve been talking a lot here at Think Theology lately about Ekklesia (church) thanks to Kenny Burchard and Luke Geraty. So I think what I have to say today will fit right in along that vein. Now I understand all the practical, logistical reasons why churches go...
by Kenny Burchard | Aug 25, 2014 | Church Life, Church Planting, Disciple Making, Evangelicalism, Evangelism, Messy Church, Missional, Practical Theology
Let’s start with a story… This morning my wife and I joined in fellowship and worship with a fairly large group of about 250 Anglican Christians in our town. After we were greeted at the door by the Pastor, he said – “I just want to let you...
by Kenny Burchard | Aug 23, 2014 | Church Life, Disciple Making, Messy Church, Missional, Practical Theology
Should we even use the word ‘church’ when discussing ecclesiology? The esteemed Luke Geraty has already suggested in a recent post that the word “church” is really not useful anymore in all our talk of ecclesiology. I agree with him, but I am...
by Brad Blocksom | Aug 13, 2014 | Church Life, Church Planting, Conflict Resolution, Disciple Making, Discipleship, Evangelism, Healing, Marriage, Missional, Practical Theology, Prayer, Small Groups
So last time we talked about the idea that “Butts in Seats” and “Decisions for Christ” may not be the best way to measure the success of the local church. And I proposed that we should focus not on church growth, but rather on discipleship as a...
by Kenny Burchard | Aug 10, 2014 | Church Life, Church Planting, Disciple Making, Messy Church, Missional, Practical Theology
This is part three in an emerging series. If you’re just starting here, you’re not up to speed. Context is everything, so I hope you’ll go back and read part one and part two first. If you have your homework done, feel free to read on… Also,...
by Brad Blocksom | Jul 29, 2014 | Church Life, Church Planting, Cultural Engagement, Disciple Making, Evangelicalism, Missional, Practical Theology, Small Groups
So I’m continuing to explore the idea of more organic forms of church. I came across this blog post entitled How the Local Movement is Revitalizing Church. Its basically about “reclaiming the ancient idea of the parish” – that’s right a...
by Robby McAlpine | Jul 26, 2014 | Church Planting, Cultural Engagement, Disciple Making, Discipleship, Leadership, Missional, Practical Theology
So, you want to become more intentionally missional. You’ve heard the stories of amazing missional endeavors, and the incredible fruit they’ve seen. You want to be more intentionally incarnational. You’ve read books, watched videos online, scrolled through websites...
by Brad Blocksom | Jul 22, 2014 | Church Planting, Conflict Resolution, Disciple Making, Discipleship, Evangelicalism, Messy Church, Missional, Practical Theology, Small Groups, Theological Training
Yep, I’ve been reading up some on the organic church movement as well as perusing that ever dependable source of indisputable facts on the internet – the Blogsphere & Facebook! Truth be told, there is a lot that really attracts me about more organic...
by Robby McAlpine | Jul 17, 2014 | Cultural Engagement, Disciple Making, Discipleship, Missional, Practical Theology
There has been a lot of emphasis placed on the concept of being “missional” in recent years. (Yes, I think that sentence might qualify as an understatement of Godzilla-like proportions.) And beyond the concept of simply being missional, there has been a...
by Brad Blocksom | Jul 15, 2014 | Devotionals, Disciple Making, Evangelicalism, Evangelism, Leadership, Missional
Hosea 8:4 They made kings, but not through me. They set up princes, but I knew it not. With their silver and gold they made idols for their own destruction. (ESV) What happens when we establish leadership structures without hearing (it) from God (first)? An idolatry...
by Luke Geraty | May 21, 2014 | Church Planting, Cross-Cultural Ministry, Cultural Engagement, Disciple Making, Evangelism, Leadership, Missional, Practical Theology, Small Town Church
Here’s a quick round up of some short articles I’ve written or contributed to in regards to small town rural church ministry: Ministry Longevity in Small Towns – Bob Logan was kind enough to allow me to reflect on the importance of ministry longevity...
by Kenny Burchard | Apr 16, 2014 | Christian Hedonism, Disciple Making, Discipleship, Evangelism, Missional, Practical Theology
This morning I listened to the dramatized ESV (Mat. 16-28) as part of a “Gospel Experiment” group I’m involved in. The text in Mat. 18 where Jesus is instructing us on how to approach a brother who has sinned against us really stood out to me when I...
by Robby McAlpine | Mar 23, 2014 | Church Planting, Disciple Making, Discipleship, Missional, Practical Theology
My wife’s people are Mennonites from the Kiev. They immigrated to Canada to escape the Bolsheviks during Russia’s great revolution, and settled mostly in Manitoba (which is as close to Siberia’s weather as Canada could offer). They have their own unique language (Low...
