by Brad Blocksom | Sep 15, 2015 | Church Life, Church Planting, Devotionals, Disciple Making, Discipleship, Leadership, Messy Church, Missional, Practical Theology, Prayer, Small Groups, World Misions
Acts 20:11 And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. (ESV) It was Sunday. Paul had already preached past midnight. They continued to talk and share a meal together (perhaps two...
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 Brad Blocksom | Aug 25, 2015 | Church Life, Devotionals, Evangelicalism, Evangelism, Messy Church, Missional, Practical Theology
John 17:22-23 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one. I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world will know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. (ESV)...
by Brad Blocksom | Aug 20, 2015 | Church Life, Disciple Making, Discipleship, Evangelicalism, Missional, Practical Theology
I probably shouldn’t write this blog post… woops, my finger slipped and I just clicked “send.” Seriously though, I’d like to start off this post with a quote from my good friend Kenny Burchard: “If we’re talking about how to “do”...
![Institutional Church [a word to the ‘dones’] (Girard 6)](https://thinktheology.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/girard_chur6.jpg)
by Robby McAlpine | Aug 17, 2015 | Church Life, Discipleship, Leadership, Missional, Practical Theology
Re-reading a classic like Brethren, Hang Loose has been much more than a trip down memory lane. Revisiting your roots is always a good habit. You never know what the Spirit might impress upon you, all over again. To be honest, I sympathize greatly with those who...
by Robby McAlpine | Aug 14, 2015 | Church Life, Church Planting, Disciple Making, Discipleship, Leadership, Missional, Practical Theology, Small Groups
No look back at Bob Girard’s Brethren, Hang Loose would be complete without revisiting the topic of house groups. “The ‘great revivals’ of American history were nearly always preceded and followed by small groups meeting for prayer and...
by Robby McAlpine | Aug 10, 2015 | Church Life, Discipleship, Leadership, Missional, Practical Theology
Bob Girard’s Brethren, Hang Loose is almost a half century old. Not exactly what you’d call a current title in the whole missional community emphasis of today. And yet Girard speaks into our present day, almost prophetically, calling us to think deeply...
by Robby McAlpine | Aug 7, 2015 | Church Life, Church Planting, Disciple Making, Discipleship, Leadership, Missional, Practical Theology, Small Groups
(Image source: Parable of the Hidden Treasure, Wikicommons) As I continue to re-read Bob Girard’s Brethren, Hang Loose, I find gems chock full o’ wisdom like this one: “The spiritual ministry of each individual member must be a spiritual ministry...
by Brad Blocksom | Aug 5, 2015 | Devotionals, Evangelism, Missional, Practical Theology
John 15:10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. (ESV) Abiding in Jesus (v. 4, 7, 9), bearing fruit (v. 2, 5) it all leads to this: “This is my commandment, that you...
by Robby McAlpine | Aug 5, 2015 | Church Life, Disciple Making, Discipleship, Leadership, Practical Theology, Revival, Small Groups
Re-visiting your roots from time to time is a healthy practice, I’ve found. And as a typical book-learnin’ nerd, there have been some significant authors whose influence in my life came through their writings. (I blogged my way through one of them,...
by Luke Geraty | May 19, 2015 | Missional, Practical Theology, The Vineyard Movement
God’s mission of extending the rule and reign of his kingdom to every square inch of the world is the scope of his great love. As the prophet Isaiah declares, “for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isa...
by Brad Blocksom | May 16, 2015 | Church Life, Church Planting, Discipleship, Evangelicalism, Evangelism, Missional, Practical Theology, Prayer
There are, of course, two extremes on this issue. On the one hand we have the Fundamentalist approach: Circle the wagons! Its us against the world. Keep those sinners out of the church. They might have a bad influence on my children, and they might infect us lest sin...
by Brad Blocksom | May 5, 2015 | Church Planting, Devotionals, Evangelicalism, Evangelism, Healing, Leadership, Missional, Practical Theology, Prayer
Luke 13:19 It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.” (ESV) Jesus answers His own question on “What is the kingdom of God like?”...
by Michael Sterns | Apr 23, 2015 | Missional, The Vineyard Movement
Growing up in the Vineyard Movement, I have these phrases and expressions etched into my mind. To be honest, these expressions are so second nature to me that I didn’t know that they were uniquely Vineyard. I have had to explain some of them to non-Vineyard people....
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 Luke Geraty | Apr 8, 2015 | Church Planting, Disciple Making, Discipleship, Evangelism, Missional, Practical Theology
God cares about multiplication: “The first essential principle [of church growth] is to realize that God wants his lost children found and enfolded. Church growth explodes from the life-giving nature of the eternal God. Jesus Christ gave his disciples the Great...
by Brad Blocksom | Apr 7, 2015 | Devotionals, Evangelicalism, Missional, Practical Theology
Mark 13:37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” (ESV) Much of what is said in the Olivet Discourse here in Mark seems to be speaking directly to the disciples (v. 5), to their immediate future in spreading the good news about Jesus (v. 9-13), and...
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...
by Brad Blocksom | Mar 9, 2015 | Devotionals, Discipleship, Healing, Missional, Practical Theology
Mark 5:17 And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. (ESV) A strange reaction to this exorcism! People fear the supernatural, even if the result is good. People don’t want someone coming in and upsetting the status quo – even when that norm...
by Brad Blocksom | Feb 24, 2015 | Devotionals, Discipleship, Evangelism, Healing, Missional, Practical Theology, Social Justice
Matthew 12:20-21 a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory; and in his name the Gentiles will hope.” (ESV) Matthew provides this quotation from Isaiah as an apologetic/explanation of Jesus...
