Best of the Week:
In Best of the Week we link to a handful of the best articles, videos, books, etc. that we have come across in the last week. We hope this will point you to some of the right places and give you tools and thoughts for life and mission.
Did You Use Church Growth Strategies?
“We should encourage people to bring unbelieving friends in spite of all those other things we are doing. And the aim is to let them taste and see what it is for the people of God to meet God, to love God, to enjoy God, to revel in God, admire God, be satisfied in God. That is what unbelievers need to see.”
Yes, we should pursue church growth, but that may not mean what you think.
A Gospeled Church
“You cannot grow in holiness and holier-than-thou-ness at the same time. So a church that makes its main thing the gospel, and when faced with sin in its ranks doesn’t simply crack the whip of the law but says “remember the gospel,” should gradually be seeing grace coming to bear.”
This one is short, and a good, concise reminder of the primacy and necessity of the gospel if we ever hope to see any (or every) part of our lives change. A good one in light of our current series, The Gospel Changes Everything.
7 Practical Tips for Missional Communities in the Suburbs
“Invest in hospitality! Spend time and spend money to get to know your neighbors. Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt 6:21). In the same way that you don’t really care about a stock price until you invest in it, you won’t care about hospitality until you put some time and money into it. If you invest in this, you will want to see it flourish. Hospitality is certainly the most overlooked evangelistic discipline.”
Where we are might not technically be a suburb, but it still carries a lot of the same characteristics. This article is a great one with some very valuable insights into how we can more consistently live on mission in our cities.
How to Restore Civility in the Public Square
“Today, cultural power has shifted, but those who have newly come to power seem to show as little interest in genuine pluralism as the cultural elites of the past did. If anything, observers argue, different perspectives and viewpoints are treated with even less respect and courtesy than in previous decades. The agenda has become not to engage, but to marginalize and silence.”
Good article in light of the election, race relations, law and order, and a number of other issues in that divide our nation and marginalize those who dissent. Tim Keller talks about how we might be able to restore some order and specifically why Christians can be part of it.
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