Structure

Here is what I would say about the 'organization' of the church, and its relative importance to keeping the church on mission, and to advancing the kingdom in the lives of individuals, in communities, and in the world...

http://damascus9.blogspot.com/2010/03/broken-tomato-cages-pt-i.html

http://damascus9.blogspot.com/2010/03/broken-tomato-cages-pt-ii.html

http://damascus9.blogspot.com/2010/05/broken-tomato-cages-pt-iii.html

http://damascus9.blogspot.com/2010/05/broken-tomato-cages-pt-iv.html

The posts above are something I wrote several years ago, and they express my frustration at the rigid structures of church that kill the life within it. However, the metaphor works the other way too, as I have come to see in recent years...

Acts 6 is the tipping point where the early church discovered a need for tomato cages. But here is where I continue to hold the line. While the cages may be necessary at times, they are ALWAYS a means to an end. The point is the life in the garden, and the structures must serve that end. We must be ruthless in this.

What this means is that the 'spontaneous expansion' that results from people falling madly in love with the Kingdom and the King, and then selling everything for that cause, is the life of the church. We can build structures and strategies around that to support, nurture, and foster this central vitality, but we must always prioritize the life of the Spirit, and never the supporting structures...

Leaders

Good leaders give away all of the credit, but collect all of the blame.

Unity

Efforts at Christian unity across denominations and ethnic groups fall into several categories,  it is helpful to distinguish them from each other, and to categorize them in a spectrum.  Having done so, we find that efforts at unity often remain at levels 1 and 2, occasionally rising to level 3, but rarely entering into levels 4 and 5.

Level 1: Having business together

     It is in our mutual interest to share resources or to provide services to each other. i.e., sharing a building.

Level 2: Symbolic acts of ecumenicism

     Public declarations of Christian unity and affection. i.e., worshipping together.

Level 3: Enjoying relationship

     Private fellowship and intimacy.

Level 4: Strategic partners

     Strategizing together, giving each other 'veto power.'

Level 5: organizational unity

     Where we simply come under the same leadership structure.
     This need not be the goal of efforts toward Christian unity,
     although, it shouldn't be kept off the table either.

Yeast, Salt, Seed, and Light

“This then is what I mean by spontaneous expansion. I mean the expansion which follows the un-exhorted and unorganized activity of individual members of the Church explaining to others the Gospel which they have found for themselves; I mean the expansion which follows the irresistible attraction of the Christian Church for men who see its ordered life, and are drawn to it by desire to discover the secret of a life which they instinctively desire to share; I mean also the expansion of the Church by the addition of new Churches.” ― Roland Allen, The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church: And the Causes That Hinder It

Easter: You are Worth Fighting For!

We watched this recently, and, while I thought the movie as a whole was 'good' this scene was 'great.'  God ministered to me through it; helping me to experience the brokenness of humanity, and the power of the gospel.