Imaginatively Missional
As Advent moves us toward Christmas, we find ourselves immersed in familiar rhythms: carols, candles, nativity scenes, and Scripture readings proclaiming “unto us a child is born.” It's a season of joyful worship and remembrance. But it’s also an invitation. It’s a summons to reorient our lives and communities around the one at the center …
The rapid expansion of Christianity in China over the past century has been accompanied by the rise of various New Religious Movements (NRMs). These groups, often emerging from Protestant traditions, including the house church movement, pose a challenge to orthodox Christian theology and church planting movements by distorting biblical teachings and diverting potential converts. Thanks …
Continue reading "Addressing a Threat to Church Planting Movements"
In Innovative Disruption, I'm exploring the ways in which the church must reorient itself toward a perichoretic mission—one that is deeply relational, participatory, and embedded in the movement of God in the world. When we look at Jesus’ ministry, it is clear that what was truly innovative and disruptive was His message, not necessarily His method. His …
The discovery of an ancient word square in the cryptoporticus at Smyrna has raised some fascinating questions about the subtle ways in which early Christians may have expressed their faith in a public yet potentially hostile environment. Dating to approximately AD 125, the word square consists of five words arranged in a 5x5 grid, with …
Have you seen the ads about Jesus? The reactions to them on social media have gone from one extreme to the other. If you follow our blog you know that we don't shy away from conversations about cultural and theological topics. And this is one which makes a remarkable intersection between the two. So, on …
Back when the color inkjet printer and image scanner were introduced to everyday consumers, many with nefarious intentions came up with the brilliant idea to print counterfeit money. Simply by laying a piece of currency on the scanner and printing the image onto a piece of paper, the money looked remarkably similar to the real …
Continue reading "The Early Church and Counterfeiting Jesus"
There are many cultural myths about Jesus; ways in which people have come to describe Him that arise from particular traditions. Often they are not matters of right or wrong, but rather expressions which have helped people relate to Jesus from their unique backgrounds. For example, in our sensitivity to race and ethnicity, when we …
In 1522, Martin Luther made his final assessment on the book of Revelation by stating, “Finally, let everyone think of it as his own spirit leads him. My spirit cannot accommodate itself to this book. For me this is reason enough not to think highly of it: Christ is neither taught nor known in it. …
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