Replay: What is a traditional church?
Three years ago, I wrote a post called “What is a ‘traditional church’?” The post was inspired by a couple of paragraphs in a book that I was reading. In the book, the author defines most of the terms that he used, included the term “traditional church.” Do you agree with this author’s definition? Should anything be added to his definition? Should anything be removed or changed?
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What is a ‘traditional church’?
I recently acquired a book by J.D. Payne called Missional House Churches: Reaching Our Communities with the Gospel (Colorado Springs: Paternoster, 2007). The author surveyed 33 leaders concerning “missional house churches”, and this book is the result.
In the introduction, Payne spends much time on definitions. He explains what he means by all of his terms. As a comparison, Payne also defines what he means by “traditional” church. This is his definition:
In this study “traditional” describes the generally held understanding of the local church. Traditional churches usually have Sunday morning as their primary time to gather. The Sunday worship gathering generally requires much time and energy to prepare for a one- or two-hour weekly event. For many such churches, the majority of their income is devoted to minsters’ salaries and physical properties. These churches tend to be campus-based in their identities. It is at these locations that the majority of their ministry events occur.
Traditional churches tend to be program-oriented, event-oriented, or categorically purpose-oriented in their identities. Pastoral leadership tends to be more positional in orientation and less relational. Evangelism is, many times, one program among many programs of the church and/or is primarily accomplished through the members inviting unbelievers to a worship service where the gospel is shared. The number of members usually far exceeds the number of people who gather weekly for worship and actively use their gifts and talents to build up the church. Many traditional churches identify themselves primarily in terms of their services, events, structures, buildings, and organizations.
I appreciate the fact that the author attempts to define the “traditional” church in terms of trends and generalities. I also appreciate the fact that Payne attempts to write his definition without making value judgments. He does not say whether these are positive or negative characteristics; he merely states that these are the general characteristics of a “traditional” church.
What do you think about this definition? Does this definitional adequately describe what you would normally consider a “traditional” church? Is something missing?
Friday the 13th, Zombies, and the Church
In honor of Friday the 13th (which is today), my friend Dan at “The Ekklesia in Southern Maine” has a special announcement in his post “Physician, Heal Thyself – an excerpt from And the Dead Shall Rise First.”
As you might guess from the title of his post, Dan is publishing an excerpt from a zombie novel that he’s writing. The working title of the novel is And the Dead Shall Rise First.
Here’s part of the description of the novel from Dan’s post:
The dead are reanimating and have one single drive: consume all life. Is this the End, Armageddon, the Apocalypse, those things foretold in prophecy throughout Scripture and history? Will the church be able to overcome her division to help bring relief and hope to the world in the midst of all this devastation, or will she simply wither and die in a fractured irrelevant self-induced coma?
Now, I don’t know much about zombies. In fact, besides watching a few movies, I learned the little that I do know about the zombie genre from Dan. For example, he taught me this very important lesson: Bats don’t run out of bullets. (Good to know, huh?)
But, I enjoyed reading the excerpt from his novel. It is interesting to think about how the church would respond to a zombie apocalypse. I’m guessing (as with other issues) different sectors of the church would deal with the problem in different ways.
In the excerpt, we read about how a rural southern church deals with zombies. Here’s a short snippet:
At this point in the evening the room was ablaze with heat and noise. It was more than enough to make anyone feel a little confused and delusional. The people praying in tongues had grown in numbers as well as volume. The moans and groans of the EPV victims was increasing as they were agitated by the close proximity of so much living flesh containing the energy they instinctively craved; yet their restraints kept them from being able to access that energy despite all efforts. They seemed unaffected by their limitations and continued to moan and fight against their loved ones who were hoping to save them. The organist, all frail and old, was wailing away on the keys of the electric organ now, producing an off-key soundtrack to the event.
If you want to read more of Dan’s story, you can read it here: “Physician, Heal Thyself!”
So, here’s a question. Do you think that works in the fantasy genres (including the zombie genre) can help people think about God and faith? Why or why not?
Clearance Books You Might be Interested In
I just saw that Westminster Bookstore has some great books in their “clearance” list.
Here are a few that you might be interested in:
NA27 Greek New Testament (50% off)
Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament (50% off)
Baptism: Three Views edited by David F. Wright (80% off)
Small Faith – Great God by N.T. Wright (45% off)
New Testament Exegesis by Craig L. Blomberg (50% off)
Early Christian Mission (2 Volume Set) by Eckhard J. Schnabel (50% off)
Also, although it’s not in the clearance section, I thought this looked like a good deal also:
Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary by Harold W. Hoehner (38% off)
Let me know if you decide to buy any of these books.
Three Reviews: Radical, Revise Us Again, and the Rabbit and the Elephant
I’ve recently read three book reviews that were very helpful.
Dan at “The Ekklesia in Southern Maine” wrote a review of David Platt’s book Radical in his post “Radical – book review.” I think Dan only found the book “radical” within a certain church context. He was also concerned about “secret church.”
Mark at “Experiencing Christ” wrote a review of Frank Viola’s book Revise Us Again in his post “Book Review: Revise Us Again by Frank Viola.” Mark found that this book followed the same patterns of Viola’s other books, and was challenged in many ways.
Eric at “A Pilgrim’s Progress” wrote a review of Tony and Felicity Dale’s book The Rabbit and the Elephant in his post “The Rabbit and the Elephant.” Eric appreciated their description of simple church and their focus on multiplication.
Of these three books, I’ve only read The Rabbit and the Elephant, which I reviewed in this post. I’m still trying to decide if I have time to read the other two books.
Have you read any of these books? What did you think about them? Helpful or not?
I contributed a chapter to Practice of Love. Pre-Order a copy now.
I had the opportunity to contribute a chapter to the book The Practice of Love: Real Stories of Living Into the Kingdom of God.
My chapter describes how my family served some dear people in a government assisted housing project that we affectionately called “The Neighborhood.” I’ve told some stories of the neighborhood here on my blog, but my chapter in this book includes additional details.
I have not read any of the other entries in the book, but I’m looking forward to reading it soon. I believe it will be released May 1, 2011. If you’d like to pre-order a copy, use the link above.
If you do decide to read this book, I’d love to hear what you think of my chapter.
Are you interested in writing? Want help?
Jeremy at “Till He Comes” is starting a writer’s club for new and unpublished authors. He tells about this in a post called “Are you an Aspiring Author?”
He hopes this new club (using Google Groups) will help people promote their writing (both their blog writing and published writing).
Jeremy has set up some rules for joining and guidelines for those who are part of the writer’s club (but it’s free to join). If you are interested, read more about it in Jeremy’s post, which includes instructions for joining the group.
Are you disadvantaged? Why not?
James at “Idle musings of a bookseller” has provides another awesome quote in his post “Whose advantage?”
The quote is from Keller’s book Generous Justice. Several people have told me that I need to read this book. If I keep seeing quotes like this, I just might spend the money on it.
Here is the quote from the book:
[T]he righteous [tzaddiq]…are willing to disadvantage themselves to advantage the community; the wicked are willing to disadvantage the community to advantage themselves.
And, here is James’ reply:
That is a heavy thought and a high calling. Am I willing to disadvantage myself for the advantage of the community? If I have the mind of Christ, I should be…
Good stuff. Very good stuff. As Saint Patrick said in his Confessio, we are the recipients of much grace and goodness from God. Now, how are we going to respond?
A Question about Publishing
Jeremy at “Till He Comes” recently linked to an Andrew Jones article about epublishing in his post “Convert Blog Posts into eBooks.”
I’ve been thinking about publishing and epublishing lately. I’d love to get my readers’ opinions on this.
Most of my readers know my opinion about elders getting paid a salary because they are elders. You know that I don’t think it can be supported by Scripture.
Is writing/selling a book different?
Also, do you think it’s still important to publish and print hard copy books, or is epublishing (only) becoming an acceptable way to publish?
Their religious activity was deeply offensive to God
“Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, and Micah all leveled the charge that, while the people attended worship, observed all religious regulations, and took pride in their Biblical knowledge, nevertheless they took advantage of the weak and vulnerable. The prophets concluded that, therefore, their religious activity was not just insufficient, but deeply offensive to God.â€â€” Generous Justice, pages 49-50
Think about the quote above. No, I mean, really think about it.
Not only did the prophets warn the Israelites about taking advantage of the weak and vulnerable, they also warned them about NOT taking an active role in helping the weak and the vulnerable.
Because they failed to care for those in need, the prophets said that God did not accept their worship. He did not accept their sacrifices, or prayers, or fasting, or feasts, or many other things that he had commanded them to do.
Why? As Jesus said, “God desires mercy and not sacrifice.”
So, does God accept my worship? Does he accept your worship? Something to think about, huh?
(HT: James)
Requested: Ragamuffin Gospel
Since I finished reading Soar by Kenny Luck, it’s time to request another review book from Blogging for Books. By the way, if you blog and enjoy reading, you should definitely sign up for this program. There is not cost to join (and, no, I don’t get anything if you join either), and they send you free books to review.
I’ve decided to review The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning. The book was first published in 1990, but I’ve never read it. (I’m not sure why it is available for review now, but I’m glad that it is. I guess this is a new edition of the book.)
Here is part of the publisher’s blurb about the book:
Many believers feel stunted in their Christian growth. We beat ourselves up over our failures and, in the process, pull away from God because we subconsciously believe He tallies our defects and hangs His head in disappointment. In this newly repackaged edition—now with full appendix, study questions, and the author’s own epilogue, “Ragamuffin Ten Years Later,†Brennan Manning reminds us that nothing could be further from the truth. The Father beckons us to Himself with a “furious love†that burns brightly and constantly. Only when we truly embrace God’s grace can we bask in the joy of a gospel that enfolds the most needy of His flock—the “ragamuffins.â€
I like the focus on grace, so I’m looking forward to reading it.
Have you ever read The Ragamuffin Gospel? If so, what did you think about it?