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 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 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 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...
by Luke Geraty | Mar 21, 2014 | Church Planting, Disciple Making, Discipleship, Evangelism, Missional, Practical Theology, Small Town Church
What is a disciple? Some people say that a disciple is someone who is “following Jesus together as their Master and Teacher so that they may become just like Jesus.” Years ago, Walter Henrichsen said that Disciples are Made Not Born. Jesus himself said that the...
by Kenny Burchard | Mar 15, 2014 | Disciple Making, Discipleship, Evangelism, Missional, Practical Theology
Did you know that there are five texts in the New Testament that contain different facets of the “Great Commission” – and without each of them, there may be something lacking in our understanding of what Jesus wants to do through His church? I have personally come to...
by Luke Geraty | Feb 26, 2014 | Cross-Cultural Ministry, Cultural Engagement, Disciple Making, Missional, Practical Theology
My first experience of doing “evangelism” was when I was around fifteen years old and our youth group traveled to an inner city neighborhood. After some training, we broke up into teams and went door to door to “share our faith.” The catch, of...
by Luke Geraty | Oct 25, 2013 | Cross-Cultural Ministry, Disciple Making, Practical Theology, Preaching, Short-term, World Misions
In 1843, Robert Moffat preached at the Barbican Chapel a sermon that raised the searching question of the eternal destination of those in foreign lands. He asked, “Who can look to the East Indies now, and to China now; who can look to those interesting portions...
by Able Baker | Oct 3, 2013 | Cultural Engagement, Disciple Making, Gender Issues, Homosexuality, Mental Illness, Messy Church, Sex
Take moment to read these short news stories from The Telegraph: (1) “Belgian killed by euthanasia after a botched sex change operation” and (2) “Mother of sex change Belgian: ‘I don’t care about his euthanasia death'”. In an...
by Luke Geraty | Jul 17, 2013 | Charismatic Theology, Disciple Making, Missional, The Kingdom of God, The Vineyard Movement
In the landscape of the “now and not yet,” the “inaugurated and not consummated,” the “sanctified and being sanctified,” it’s been extremely helpful for me to think about the concept of the kingdom of God through the idea of...
by Luke Geraty | Jul 6, 2013 | Disciple Making, Gospel, Missional
I don’t want to undervalue the necessity of people making a “decision” to follow Jesus as Lord, but I think it’s somewhat true that there’s a prevalent ideology at work in many churches that simply wants to get someone to “make a...
