An interesting article has been published in the latest Missional Journal from Biblical Seminary which picks up on some important thinking from Miroslav Volf and James Davison Hunter on the mode of Christian living in the world and the need for disciples of Christ to operate in a mode of Soft Difference.
Read the article here...
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
Thursday, 17 February 2011
Baptist Times: Whole-life Discipleship (Feb 2011)
A Vision for Discipleship
Albert drives buses. He’s passionate about serving people, extending those courtesies that make life easier – waiting for the person who’s still running to the stop; exercising patience with those who’ve lost theirs. He’s also bothered about the other drivers in the depot. When I met him he was about to return to work following a short strike during which only five drivers had crossed the picket line. ‘My job tomorrow,’ he said, ‘is to be a peacemaker. That’s why I’m here.’ Albert has a vision to make a difference in his place of work. Quietly spoken, with a sense of humour, a diplomat and a good listener, Albert deploys that gifting by actively engaging with the relational tensions of his workplace. Along the way he hopes to drive lots of people safely from A to B, enable as many as possible to experience grace through his attention to their needs, and to speak about Jesus as the one who inspires his vision for a life worth living.
What about you? What’s shaping your vision for your own life?
Albert drives buses. He’s passionate about serving people, extending those courtesies that make life easier – waiting for the person who’s still running to the stop; exercising patience with those who’ve lost theirs. He’s also bothered about the other drivers in the depot. When I met him he was about to return to work following a short strike during which only five drivers had crossed the picket line. ‘My job tomorrow,’ he said, ‘is to be a peacemaker. That’s why I’m here.’ Albert has a vision to make a difference in his place of work. Quietly spoken, with a sense of humour, a diplomat and a good listener, Albert deploys that gifting by actively engaging with the relational tensions of his workplace. Along the way he hopes to drive lots of people safely from A to B, enable as many as possible to experience grace through his attention to their needs, and to speak about Jesus as the one who inspires his vision for a life worth living.
What about you? What’s shaping your vision for your own life?
One of the ways we might approach this question is to take seriously the places where we spend most of our time. That’s what Jesus did. John 1:14 tells us that Jesus “came and lived among them…” In other words he came to live in a fixed time and place. It mattered where he was. This was the context in which he could fulfil his unique and specific life calling in obedience to his Father.
Jesus was sent to a tiny geographic area on our planet for a limited amount of time, but with a purpose. He came to seek and to save the lost. He came to model an alternative way of life and relationships. He came to declare by word and deed that the kingdom of God
and drank, he taught and healed, he talked and cried, he worked and slept, he prayed and celebrated. He lived fully and purposefully in that moment and in that place and he invited his disciples to do likewise.
and drank, he taught and healed, he talked and cried, he worked and slept, he prayed and celebrated. He lived fully and purposefully in that moment and in that place and he invited his disciples to do likewise.
Where we are matters. Where we spend the majority of our time in an ordinary week matters to God. So where is that for you - work, home, college, in your community, or somewhere else? Can you make a difference there? On the ‘frontline’ in daily life, in your ‘crossing places’ with non believers?
The Message translation of Galatians 6:4 puts the challenge succinctly,
‘Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that.’
God weaves the threads of our life, our self and our context into a tapestry that displays the wonder of his mission as we ask questions and listen, bring him our dilemmas, search the Scriptures, and exercise boldness in words and deeds on the frontline.
It’s easy to be overly swayed by other people’s expectations or intimidated by the brilliance of other people’s gifting. Allowing such forces to mould us can lead to bitterness or resentment or a growing sense of inadequacy. The truth is: you are one in whom Christ dwells and in whom he delights, his masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10), a reflection of the heart and the mind and the creative genius of the Maker. We’re not all called to be diplomats or drivers. But through our gifting and our growth in Christ-likeness on the frontline we will make a difference wherever we are day by day. So what’s your vision for your discipleship these days?
Tracy Cotterell
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Hirsch & Ford: Right Here, Right Now
As the authors put it:
The book is accompanied by an excellent range of online resources at righthererightnowbook.comThis book is written to equip all believers and to serve as a guide in the journey of living as salt and light in the name of Jesus Christ, regardless of situation, vocation or location. It is to take the academic concept of missional and make it accessible to the whole body of Christ. We believe it belongs to the whole church and must somehow be factored into the equation of discipleship, spirituality, and church at every level of our experience if we are going to be the people God has made us to be.
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
Baptist Times: Whole-life Discipleship (Article 2)
LICC has been asked to contribute a series of articles to the Baptist Times exploring themes in whole-life discipleship. In the second of the series Mark Greene explores a vision for human flourishing...
Flourishing from Eden to Exeter
Here’s a question:
Why does God create Adam on Day 6? Why doesn’t he create him on Day 1?
And what has that to do with whole-life discipleship?
Well, if God had created Adam on Day 1 it would have been dark and there would have been nowhere for him to stand.
In fact, by the time God creates Adam everything is ready for him. There’s air to breathe, water to drink, food to eat, productive work to pursue and it’s beautiful. What has God done? He has created a context for human flourishing. That’s the big project.
That’s what a parent or a single person is trying to do in their home – trying to create a context for the flourishing of those who live and visit. That’s what a good manager does in a company, tries to create a context in which people can flourish. As one senior manager put it; “My job is to roll the rocks off the runway so other people can soar.” That’s what a pastor is trying to do in a church, trying to create a context in which people can flourish in Christ.
Certainly the Fall has made that more difficult but God’s primary purpose has not changed. Christ, after all, is not only described as co-creator of all things: “For by him all things were created” (Colossians 1:16)
He is described as the one through whom “all things” are reconciled:
“and through him to reconcile all things to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” (Colossians 1:20)
All things, not just some things.
This is the wonder and glory of God’s plan in Christ – not a partial salvation, not an interim solution, but a definitive, once and for all, all sufficient, redemptive sacrifice that promises the utter renewal of all things.
Tony Campolo, the American Christian social activist, put it this way,
“Evangelism is an invitation to join a movement to change the world.”
Of course, evangelism is more than that, but it is never less.
This is the big project we are all involved in – working with God to create a context for human flourishing in Him, with him, for Him, to His glory… wherever we are, day by day.
That may sound all very academic but it works out in very concrete ways, in ordinary situations.
So, a while back, a scientist called Anita pondered the lack of positive relationships in her workplace. Every day, the “team” would come in, suit up in white and scurry like moles into the single-person labs that the purity of their research required. Occasionally one of them would scuttle out to replenish a coffee cup and then scamper back. No one talked to each other, no one shared ideas about the research, no one really had much fun. So Anita decided to do an experiment and announced that on Friday, she would make coffee for everyone at 10:30 and she would bring chocolate biscuits.
And so it was that, on Friday at 10:30, the scientists, lured by chocolate, scampered out of their single-unit labs, into Anita’s benevolent conversational trap. And talked about life, about the news, and, of course, about their research. And so Friday by Friday, calorie by calorie, the “team” became more of a team.
What might you do in your context to combat something that inhibits people flourishing? Is your context full of gossip? Then practice affirmation. Is it full of selfishness? Then suggest something that helps people think of others – getting together to give to a particular charity, for example. In sum, prayerfully, look for an antidote that might, over time, lead to people experiencing Jesus’ ways. As God puts it to the exiles in Babylon (Jeremiah 29:7): “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
Flourishing from Eden to Exeter
Here’s a question:
Why does God create Adam on Day 6? Why doesn’t he create him on Day 1?
And what has that to do with whole-life discipleship?
Well, if God had created Adam on Day 1 it would have been dark and there would have been nowhere for him to stand.
In fact, by the time God creates Adam everything is ready for him. There’s air to breathe, water to drink, food to eat, productive work to pursue and it’s beautiful. What has God done? He has created a context for human flourishing. That’s the big project.
That’s what a parent or a single person is trying to do in their home – trying to create a context for the flourishing of those who live and visit. That’s what a good manager does in a company, tries to create a context in which people can flourish. As one senior manager put it; “My job is to roll the rocks off the runway so other people can soar.” That’s what a pastor is trying to do in a church, trying to create a context in which people can flourish in Christ.
Certainly the Fall has made that more difficult but God’s primary purpose has not changed. Christ, after all, is not only described as co-creator of all things: “For by him all things were created” (Colossians 1:16)
He is described as the one through whom “all things” are reconciled:
“and through him to reconcile all things to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” (Colossians 1:20)
All things, not just some things.
This is the wonder and glory of God’s plan in Christ – not a partial salvation, not an interim solution, but a definitive, once and for all, all sufficient, redemptive sacrifice that promises the utter renewal of all things.
Tony Campolo, the American Christian social activist, put it this way,
“Evangelism is an invitation to join a movement to change the world.”
Of course, evangelism is more than that, but it is never less.
This is the big project we are all involved in – working with God to create a context for human flourishing in Him, with him, for Him, to His glory… wherever we are, day by day.
That may sound all very academic but it works out in very concrete ways, in ordinary situations.
So, a while back, a scientist called Anita pondered the lack of positive relationships in her workplace. Every day, the “team” would come in, suit up in white and scurry like moles into the single-person labs that the purity of their research required. Occasionally one of them would scuttle out to replenish a coffee cup and then scamper back. No one talked to each other, no one shared ideas about the research, no one really had much fun. So Anita decided to do an experiment and announced that on Friday, she would make coffee for everyone at 10:30 and she would bring chocolate biscuits.
And so it was that, on Friday at 10:30, the scientists, lured by chocolate, scampered out of their single-unit labs, into Anita’s benevolent conversational trap. And talked about life, about the news, and, of course, about their research. And so Friday by Friday, calorie by calorie, the “team” became more of a team.
What might you do in your context to combat something that inhibits people flourishing? Is your context full of gossip? Then practice affirmation. Is it full of selfishness? Then suggest something that helps people think of others – getting together to give to a particular charity, for example. In sum, prayerfully, look for an antidote that might, over time, lead to people experiencing Jesus’ ways. As God puts it to the exiles in Babylon (Jeremiah 29:7): “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
Tuesday, 21 December 2010
Chick Yuill's New Book Released Jan 2011
Too many people find their experience as Christians incomplete and unsatisfactory...
Jamal enjoys his voluntary work with down-and-outs but finds church irrelevant.
Jack believes he's going to heaven but isn't sure what difference Jesus makes to him now.
Aimee loves being part of a lively church but at work no-one would know she was a Christian.
They're all missing something. But life with Jesus is meant to be an all-encompassing adventure. In this dynamic and punchy book Chick Yuill explores the four concentric circles that make up the authentic Christian life:
- walking in the company of Jesus
- growing in the community of believers
- engaging with the culture of the times
- looking to the coming of the King
Thursday, 16 December 2010
Location, Location, Location - Tracy Cotterell
Tracy was recently asked to write an article for the CPAS Church Leadership magazine and they have given us permission to reproduce the article here.
CL73 p6-7
CL73 p6-7
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Baptist Times: Whole-life Discipleship
LICC has been asked to contribute a series of articles to the Baptist Times exploring themes in whole-life discipleship. In the first of the series Mark Greene looks at a surprising example of faith in action on the Frontline...
Where you are, as in heaven?
Imagine you are a ten year old in a primary school, specifically at Holy Trinity C of E Primary School in Northwood where I live. Imagine that your whole school is going to be discussing what its values should be and voting for them. Now, although the school is a Church of England school there are lots of Muslims and Hindus and people with no particular faith at all.
How in a multicultural context can you inject some overtly Christian component without imposing on others in your community who don’t share that faith perspective?
How do you influence corporate culture – when you are ten years old?
So you get together with two or three other Christians and you think about it and pray about it. And you summon up your courage and you go to the head teacher and say “We think one of our values should be, ‘What would Jesus do.’” And so the head talks to the Muslims. And they don’t mind because for them Jesus is a prophet and she talks to the Hindus and they decide that it’s Ok because after all this is a Christian school. And then the whole school votes and it’s agree that WWJD should become one of the school’s values, one of the criteria by which everything that happens in that school should be evaluated… And they are 10 years old.
Was it easier, I wonder, or more difficult for Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Babylon to make an impact on their bit of God’s world? Is it easier or more difficult for you or me in our workplaces, clubs, towns, villages? Or have you or I perhaps already done it?
Is this too small a tale to tell, I wonder, of how the life of Jesus so courses through a ten year old that they want to see his name high and lifted up… as indeed it then was, for all to see, on a paper elephant head on the walls of their school hall?
Those children understood something very simple. This was the place that God had put them, these were the people he’d placed them amongst, this was the place to bring his love. This was where his name was to be hallowed, this was where his will should be done, this was where his kingdom should come…
The question for us is this: can we too discover the radical possibility of the authentic, adventurous, awe-inspired, agape fuelled ordinary Christian life? In a time when evangelical Christians across the denominations are struggling to see how the Gospel of the crucified and risen Lord really makes a difference in everyday life, can we, like these schoolchildren, be clear on our calling in the places we are called to live and work?
We think that Christians can. In this series we’ll be telling you more stories about what happens when people realise that they are called to make a difference where they are; we’ll be exploring the kind of church that inspires and trains people like this and the kind of full-orbed biblical understanding of God that shapes, inspires and sustains such actions.
Indeed, this vision springs directly from the Gospel, from an understanding that Jesus is creator of all, owner of all, reconciler of all, Lord of all and that therefore there is no aspect of our being, no context we find ourselves in, no task we undertake that is not of interest to him. So the new life we have in him is intended to flow out beyond our Sunday services and our midweek meetings into the whole of life, the whole of our ordinary life - our life at work, our life at home and our life in the neighbourhood, our life in the playground and our life in the classroom.
May the Lord indeed be with you this week wherever you are.
Where you are, as in heaven?
Imagine you are a ten year old in a primary school, specifically at Holy Trinity C of E Primary School in Northwood where I live. Imagine that your whole school is going to be discussing what its values should be and voting for them. Now, although the school is a Church of England school there are lots of Muslims and Hindus and people with no particular faith at all.
How in a multicultural context can you inject some overtly Christian component without imposing on others in your community who don’t share that faith perspective?
How do you influence corporate culture – when you are ten years old?
So you get together with two or three other Christians and you think about it and pray about it. And you summon up your courage and you go to the head teacher and say “We think one of our values should be, ‘What would Jesus do.’” And so the head talks to the Muslims. And they don’t mind because for them Jesus is a prophet and she talks to the Hindus and they decide that it’s Ok because after all this is a Christian school. And then the whole school votes and it’s agree that WWJD should become one of the school’s values, one of the criteria by which everything that happens in that school should be evaluated… And they are 10 years old.
Was it easier, I wonder, or more difficult for Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Babylon to make an impact on their bit of God’s world? Is it easier or more difficult for you or me in our workplaces, clubs, towns, villages? Or have you or I perhaps already done it?
Is this too small a tale to tell, I wonder, of how the life of Jesus so courses through a ten year old that they want to see his name high and lifted up… as indeed it then was, for all to see, on a paper elephant head on the walls of their school hall?
Those children understood something very simple. This was the place that God had put them, these were the people he’d placed them amongst, this was the place to bring his love. This was where his name was to be hallowed, this was where his will should be done, this was where his kingdom should come…
The question for us is this: can we too discover the radical possibility of the authentic, adventurous, awe-inspired, agape fuelled ordinary Christian life? In a time when evangelical Christians across the denominations are struggling to see how the Gospel of the crucified and risen Lord really makes a difference in everyday life, can we, like these schoolchildren, be clear on our calling in the places we are called to live and work?
We think that Christians can. In this series we’ll be telling you more stories about what happens when people realise that they are called to make a difference where they are; we’ll be exploring the kind of church that inspires and trains people like this and the kind of full-orbed biblical understanding of God that shapes, inspires and sustains such actions.
Indeed, this vision springs directly from the Gospel, from an understanding that Jesus is creator of all, owner of all, reconciler of all, Lord of all and that therefore there is no aspect of our being, no context we find ourselves in, no task we undertake that is not of interest to him. So the new life we have in him is intended to flow out beyond our Sunday services and our midweek meetings into the whole of life, the whole of our ordinary life - our life at work, our life at home and our life in the neighbourhood, our life in the playground and our life in the classroom.
May the Lord indeed be with you this week wherever you are.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)