tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1011314028160236945.post1307750727528748169..comments2023-05-07T06:33:50.037-04:00Comments on Disciple's Diary: The Purpose-Driven ChurchR. Wayne Stacyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17082799151578983563noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1011314028160236945.post-31772309982465837382008-06-30T14:46:00.000-04:002008-06-30T14:46:00.000-04:00Sorry... I know it is STACY!Please forgive my erro...Sorry... I know it is STACY!<BR/>Please forgive my error.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1011314028160236945.post-46640602861368287122008-06-30T14:43:00.000-04:002008-06-30T14:43:00.000-04:00In my limited experience with churches it seems th...In my limited experience with churches it seems that power and control are the driving force in the participation of a lot of church goers. In searching for the truth and trying to be together to serve, one would think that the church would be focused and looking in one direction. But instead I have found that if you want to be involved in a church community you not only battle within yourself with the struggle to give up power to Him but you have to battle everyone elses self too. How exhausting. When you do find a preacher that gives you a glimpse of the Kingdom you only hope everyone else can see it too. And then of course there is the question of whether you are still being held by the Matrix or if you are perceiving what you think you are perceiving. I will never forget the parable you (Pastor Stacey) preached on, it told how neither servant that approached the king new what his fate would be but each was not what they thought it would be. I always remember that when I begin to evaluate myself and my behavior. More proof that as the Bible and Mr.Lewis have said we must deny ourselves completely. I guess if we could all do that at one moment all simultaneously we would be closer to the Kingdom of God. Maybe.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1011314028160236945.post-34162583028329137642008-04-20T06:28:00.000-04:002008-04-20T06:28:00.000-04:00I agree, Clayton. Provincialism and its twin, mate...I agree, Clayton. Provincialism and its twin, materialism, are at least part of the problem with the church's capitulation to the dominant consumer culture here in the States. It's not nearly so evident in countries where the church's very survival depends upon its being "in the world but not of it."<BR/><BR/>My late teacher and friend, Dr. Frank Stagg, used to say: "There are a lot a ways to divide the human race - left/right, educated/uneducated, white/black/yellow/red, etc. - but here's one most of us here in the US never think about. You can divide the world between 'weight watchers' and 'the starving.'"<BR/><BR/>Frank would then go on to say: "I step on the scales every morning praying I didn't gain a pound overnight. The vast majority of the human race wouldn't understand my problem!"R. Wayne Stacyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17082799151578983563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1011314028160236945.post-40775132579479505712008-04-19T15:52:00.000-04:002008-04-19T15:52:00.000-04:00Well said. For anyone who might be interested (th...Well said. For anyone who might be interested (though I do not assume anyone would be), I have an observation gleaned from 21 years of preaching in different cultures and churches of different denominations. Certainly, the church (where it exists) is going to refelct the culture within which it exists, to an extent. One difficulty seems to be reflecting the wholesome, good, or a-moral elements of a culture while standing and speaking prophetically against the evil, bad, and immoral elements of that culture. One extreme is to embrace the culture wholesale while the other is to rage against evey aspect of a culture venemously. You could almost over-simplify it as radical liberalism or reactionary fundamentalism (I think Neibhur had something to say about this, too).<BR/><BR/>Which brings me to my point...often times Christians who have been exposed to other cultures of the world (meaning they have traveled some, tasted different foods, learned new words, ridden the train or the tube, slept on dirt floors, bathed dirty kids at an orphanage, and smelled poverty as opposed to just reading about it, etc.) seem to slide more easily into the much needed balance of the "in-it-not-of-it" dichotomy. Not to say that a short term mission trip is the cure-all for what ails the church, but to suggest that literally leaving the comfort and convenience of home (house, church, community) every once-in-a-while, is good for the Christian soul. It puts us in proximity to those entirely different from us, gives us a chance to stop talking about social justice and actually practice some of it, and teaches us lessons we bring back to this consuming Christian subculture that seems to rule the landscape in the United States, at least.<BR/><BR/>Just a thought...clayton kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05749915381358400739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1011314028160236945.post-70889216194915509922008-04-15T12:05:00.000-04:002008-04-15T12:05:00.000-04:00I wish stuff like this would get a larger readersh...I wish stuff like this would get a larger readership. Fortunately your choice for the title could aid that as people stumble upon this looking for Rick Warren. Churches, their ministers and their "members" need to be reminded of who we are and whose we are. <BR/><BR/>The image that works best for me to explain it to the young people I minister to is that of the Matrix movies. People are "reborn" out of the world of the Matrix into the "real world," fighting agents of the false world who keep the rest of humanity blissfully unaware and enslaved. These freedom fighters seek to free humanity. <BR/><BR/>Like all metaphors it fails in describing fully the "in it but not of it-ness" of the church. But my youth have a better understanding of what it means to be Christian in a post-christian world.<BR/><BR/>Thank you for these words.<BR/><BR/>Davedavehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09965927438255766730noreply@blogger.com