March 2009

March 28, 2009

Reflecting on Hebrews and 1 Peter

For the past month, I’ve been spending a lot of time reading Hebrews and 1 Peter. One of the things that strikes me again and again, reading these passages, is the number of times that the authors reassure their readers of the truth of the Promise they have received. When you think about those early Christians, it must have been hard for them to accept the Gospel. Today, often when we Westerners think of non-Christians, we picture people who are agnostics or hardened atheists who deny the very existence of God. Yet in truth those early believers—and most non-Christians today, [...]

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March 24, 2009

Resilient Communities: transformation block-by-block

John Robb writes about his theme that “the nation-state is caught in the grip of two aggressive groups of superempowered global guerrillas: the global barons of financial capitalism attacking from above and tribes/gangs/terrorists thrusting from below.” And the nation-state is, he feels, losing the battle with these two groups. (Note: the article he links to is a deep, thorough, worthwhile analysis of the history of the crisis but uses a lot of vulgar language.) Christians can pray for a change in their State and even get involved in government. But the reality is, political processes move too slowly and mostly [...]

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March 21, 2009

Swarm Leadership: Deference vs. Authority

One of the most challenging things to explain about swarming is its flat structure and lack of any kind of centralized authority. People stare at me blankly, not understanding how a structure without a visible leadership hierarchy—someone in charge—can accomplish anything. Yesterday, I had a conversation over lemonade with Corne, a friend from church. We were reflecting about time overseas and its value, and he said that that sometimes it takes leaving your culture and going to a different culture to get a better understanding of what is real and true. He thought I should reflect on that and write [...]

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March 19, 2009

More than 650 people groups left to reach, not done by 2025

Over the last couple days I’ve been noticing some various twitter spurts about “only 650 people groups left to reach” and “all of the people groups will be reached by 2025.” I’m not sure of the precise source of these quotes; I’ve twittered back but haven’t received a response. However, I think it’s important to modify these thoughts. I’m pretty sure where the figures come from, and I’m pretty sure they’re being misinterpreted. 650 people groups left? This statistic is undoubtedly based on the numbers from Finishing the Task, which uses a list of 639 or so people groups. However, [...]

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March 11, 2009

The congregation as a resilient community

In another article, “global guerrilla” writer John Robb articulates a collapsitarian scenario for 2009/10 in which the US and other countries spin out of control due to pressures at the top from a global depression and pressures at the bottom from superempowered individuals. Two possible scenarios arise in response to this: 1), open source insurgencies which use violence to achieve their ends – the establishment of temporary autonomous zones which are secure and economically sound while governed according to the “rules” of the insurgency; or, 2) the creation of resilient communities which also represent islands of stability, peace, and security. [...]

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March 4, 2009

Metrics, misunderstood

Today Ernest (Missions, misunderstood) wrote an interesting piece, “Metrics,” where he questions some of the ways we measure success. Since its a piece dealing with statistics, research and measurement, the subject is near and dear to my heart. Ernest thinks: If you believe that God does the saving (not us), then measuring the number of salvations is kind of silly. Measuring God is silly, indeed. However, God uses us as tools in the evangelization and salvation process. A low number of salvations from a particular population segment can be a potential symptom of a human failing. We have to be [...]

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