The Church of Irresistible Influence
by Philipp Meinecke A city set on a hill. Visible even to the untrained eye. A lamp bringing light even into the darkest of rooms. A beautiful bride, made ready for her husband. A house in which even those far off find a home. Jesus used many compelling and vivid metaphors to describe the church and its intended influence on the world. Through the power and work of the Holy Spirit, the Early Church presented such a transformative force on its culture that even persecution
Should a Christian Even Go to Church at All?
This might sound like an odd question, particularly from a pastor who’s trying to grow a new church, but it was one I was asked: Where does a Christian go to worship and serve God in Starnberg, or even Munich? It’s not easy to find a church that fits with what we were raised with, our style, or our schedule. This is true. If we were to choose a church of a mainline denomination, we might not understand the language or we
Christian Community: It Ain’t Supposed to Be Shallow
By Chaplain Chris Linzey, Blogger and contributing author at Theology Mix, a theology and culture blog on church life, culture, and theological debate. We live in an increasingly fragmented and shallow society. I believe people are really desiring a new way of life that is more connected with others. Genesis has a vivid picture of God creating. There is great chaos in the Cosmos as God is creating merely from the power of his words. Matter is neither created or destroyed, it
From the Pastor: Would You Want To Do That?
Would you like to spend eternity with a group of dour, self-righteous, ritual-bound, judgmental people? Would you even want to be around them? Probably not! Then why would God? Often so much of what we can know and love about God seems absent in the religious people who end up doing more to harm our perception of him than reflecting his true character. Even in our information-saturated, hi-tech culture, we know alarmingly little about God’s personality and his true character. Above
