I love this cover of “I Believe in Father Christmas” orignially written by Greg Lake of “Emerson, Lake and Palmer” fame. What is especially interesting about U2’s rendering is a very subtle yet thoughtful change in lyrics. What was originally: “They sold me a dream of Christmas, They sold me a silent night, They told me a [...]
Archive for December, 2009
Preaching in the Missional Church
Posted: 22nd December 2009 by Brad Brisco in Church, Culture, Gospel, Leadership, MissionalErvin R. Stutzman has written an excellent paper titled “Preaching in the Missional Church” which can be downloaded here. Stutzman provides a brief analysis of the effects of secularization on the Christian church in the West. He then moves to discuss the response of the missional church to the secularization process. However, the majority of [...]
Introducing the Missional Church
Posted: 10th December 2009 by Brad Brisco in Books, Church, Ecclesiology, MissionalI am about fifty pages into Introducing the Missional Church, and thus far it appears to be the comprehensive, yet very accessible introduction of the topic that has been greatly needed. There are two specific positions the authors take in chapter one that I appreciate. First, they present a very evenhanded critique of “attractional vs missional.” They [...]
Lesslie Newbigin Tribute
Posted: 8th December 2009 by Brad Brisco in Books, Dmin Project, Ecclesiology, Lesslie Newbigin, MissionalToday Lesslie Newbigin would have been 100 years old. In honor of the centennial of his birth, Andy Rowell offers an interesting tribute here. For a little more on Newbigin’s influence you can also check out a couple of earlier posts I did here and here. Update: Two more links on Newbigin. First an article [...]
Community Transformation Audios
Posted: 4th December 2009 by Brad Brisco in Church, Community Transformation, Culture, Gospel, Incarnational, Justice, Kingdom of God, LeadershipComments Off
Here are two additional sessions from last month’s missional church conference. In these two sessions Eric Swanson speaks to the topic of community transformation. The final 30 minutes of session one includes the audio of an animated short film titled The Man Who Planted Trees. The film is the story of a solitary sheperd who [...]
Audio From KC Missional Church Conference
Posted: 1st December 2009 by Brad Brisco in Church, Community Transformation, Missional, Networks, TrainingHere are the first two audio presentations from the Kansas City Missional Network Gathering. In session one, Eric Swanson, author of The Externally Focused Church, shares the characteristics of EF Churches. These characteristics include: They believe that their communities can’t be healthy without the church. They believe Christians don’t grow until they begin serving. They [...]