Blogs and more blogs
I have a few blogs that I keep up on. I have found that those few people do a much better job than I ever could of keeping up with other blogs, so I let them work and I enjoy.
I have two favorites (sorry to those who didn't make the list) - my friend Jim Paul's blog, which is as diverse as they come in terms of the different things he talks about, and Mark Ostreicher's blog. Mark's the president of Youth Specialties, has a son the same age as my oldest, and is just plain weird... therefore, reading his blog is not only an adventure in variety, but also in creativity and craziness.
The blog I want to blog about (that's still a weird concept for me), though, is "Out of Ur," Leadership Journal's blog. Lately they've been talking about mega- vs. home church movements. I have found this whole topic fascinating. Mega-churches offer so many ministry opportunities. At the same time, the latest blog from "Out of Ur" talks about how cell groups in these churches are actually encouraging people to start home churches. Is this bad? Could this be a great in-between for ministry - the help and support of the pastoral team of the mega-church, with the intimacy, accountability, and friendship of a home church? Being a person who enjoys both for a variety of reasons, it's given me cause to pause and think about it. My opinion (so far) is that, given a choice, I'd still go with the home church model, or at least a smaller church model, that allows the intimacy. We can survive without a lot of the mega-church ministry opportunities if we would just learn to care for one another - pursue relationships above programs; pursue relationships above selfish interests; pursue relationships above the pain they can cause (and they will). It's hard, painful... and very, very rewarding. It also seems to be more of the model I see in scripture in terms of how Christians should relate.
Thoughts?
I have two favorites (sorry to those who didn't make the list) - my friend Jim Paul's blog, which is as diverse as they come in terms of the different things he talks about, and Mark Ostreicher's blog. Mark's the president of Youth Specialties, has a son the same age as my oldest, and is just plain weird... therefore, reading his blog is not only an adventure in variety, but also in creativity and craziness.
The blog I want to blog about (that's still a weird concept for me), though, is "Out of Ur," Leadership Journal's blog. Lately they've been talking about mega- vs. home church movements. I have found this whole topic fascinating. Mega-churches offer so many ministry opportunities. At the same time, the latest blog from "Out of Ur" talks about how cell groups in these churches are actually encouraging people to start home churches. Is this bad? Could this be a great in-between for ministry - the help and support of the pastoral team of the mega-church, with the intimacy, accountability, and friendship of a home church? Being a person who enjoys both for a variety of reasons, it's given me cause to pause and think about it. My opinion (so far) is that, given a choice, I'd still go with the home church model, or at least a smaller church model, that allows the intimacy. We can survive without a lot of the mega-church ministry opportunities if we would just learn to care for one another - pursue relationships above programs; pursue relationships above selfish interests; pursue relationships above the pain they can cause (and they will). It's hard, painful... and very, very rewarding. It also seems to be more of the model I see in scripture in terms of how Christians should relate.
Thoughts?
Labels: Miscellaneous, Theology
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