opinions and musings

Marketplace Ministry Part 1 Jesus taught his disciples to pray "Your [God's] Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." This means that the ultimate goal of Christianity is not to get human beings into heaven, but to bring the Kingdom of God and will of God to reality on earth. The Kingdom of God means God's reign on the earth. This means nothing less than societal transformation. Paul wrote that the Kingdom of God is "justice, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost." This is intended not just for individuals, but for society as a whole. Therefore the task of Christian leadership is to equip followers of Jesus to be agents of societal transformation in every field: education, business, government, media, entertainment, science, technology, etc. Pastors focus way too much energy on church services and sermons when the focus should be on equipping followers of Jesus to make a difference Monday through Sunday in the marketplace. Paul wrot...

Here is a good exercise for my fellow followers of Jesus.  Can we summarize the message of the entire Bible in 200 words or less?  This is great to be able to do when sharing your faith with someone who is not a believer in Jesus.  The message of Jesus really doesn't make much sense when it is presented out of context.  We must present the saving work of Christ in the context of the overall story of Israel and in the context of the God who created the physical universe and has always loved humanity. Here is my attempt at this: "The Bible tells the story of God's journey with mankind as He reveals Himself as a Father who delights in his good creation and in humanity.   He called out a people to Himself called Israel - the descendants of a Jewish man named Jacob.  He revealed Himself in a special way to this group of people. They became His representatives in the earth.  The story reaches its climax when God Himself comes to earth in the form of t...

Relational church is something my wife and I have been involved in for the past eight years.  I use the term “relational” church rather than “organic” or “house” church for a reason.  The covenant people of God – those who have received forgiveness of sin and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ – they make up the universal church.   The church is people, not buildings and not meetings.  Reading through the New Testament, one realizes that the relational commands such as “love one another”, “forgive one another”, “bear one another’s burdens” etc. can only be carried out in the context of a small group of believers who are committed to the Lord and to one another.  The NT letters were written to clusters of believers who were gathering in homes to celebrate the Risen Christ all across the Roman Empire.  The letters were often circulated among these small clusters within a given city or region.  So we have the letter to the believers at Rome, the letter...