[Click on photo for larger version.]
I ran across a cool set of alternative worship photos at small fire. They include photos from Holy Joe's, Church of the Apostles and Solomon's Porch, just to name a few.
I'm a big fan of the labyrinth for spiritual growth and renewal, so I couldn't resist posting this photo.
Enjoy.
HT: Can't remember, sorry.
[Click on graphic for larger versions.]
I stumbled upon this on-line source for free worship graphics--really nice ones I might add.
They're called Open Resources.
Enjoy browsing and utilizing them in worship.
Becky Garrison wrote this piece for God's Politics-- here's a short blurb
Soccer moms, NASCAR dads, and now holy hipsters have been touted by political pundits and the mainstream media as the group du jour that political candidates must court in order to win the coveted presidential prize. Using select books and blogs, they conclude that these missional millennials have abandoned the political party of their parents and will be casting their ballots for Obama come November. However, as Jim Wallis wrote earlier this year, "This doesn't mean young evangelicals are automatically becoming Democrats (and I don't think they should). It does mean that their agenda is broader and deeper, no longer beholden to a single partisan ideology."
Instead of voting Republican or Democrat, I think the issue voting Christian. In other words, voting your Christian beliefs and values.
Source: God's Politics
Relevant Magazine is running a 7-part series dealing with such hot topics as gay rights, war, consumerism, etc. Here's an interesting tidbit from the article on consumerism:
What is enough is defined by our relationship to our neighbor—if our neighbor has four cars, then we think we are living simply if we have two cars. If our neighbor doesn’t have water, then two cars is probably too many. We have this command to love our neighbor as ourselves, but I think the great tragedy of our culture is that we are pushed away from suffering, away from poverty to the point that it’s enough if we give a tax-exempt donation or volunteer for a week out of the year. And yet if we’re really in relationship with people who are suffering, that messes with us. It keeps us up at night when we are faced with the reality that we have people in our neighborhood living in a cardboard box in the winter, and we have shelter.
Source: Relevant Magazine
If you're looking for something sensible & practical, consider openlp.org.
It's free price tag makes it around $500 cheaper than the big boys.
Give it a whirl and let me know what you think of it.
HT: Lo-Fi Tribe
Something interesting from Shane Claiborne:
Every culture has particular ways of eating. Some folks eat with chopsticks, others sit on the floor, in India we ate with our right hands. How do Christians eat? Christians eat with poor folks, with the outcast, the marginalized, and the excluded-- all who were never invited to anyone else's party. Ours is the different kind of part. It's more like a divine banquet than another political program. Society's misfits are our people, our "constituency."
Source: Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne, p. 241.
Here's a YouTube video of Shane leading the Jesus for President Litany.
From Kingdom grace:
The organizing purpose of most churches is the organization itself and the Sunday service. Most believe that the growth of their church and service within the church is the same as building the kingdom. They may be genuinely interested in mission, but it is not their central purpose.
HT: achievable ends
Source: Kingdom grace
I really like this:
What is missional? It is...
Out not In
An important distinction of missional is that it is Out rather than In. This is a 180 degree shift from traditional ministry methods. Ministry is a lifestyle out in the world rather than service to or within an organization. As we love and serve others around us, we participate in the life of the kingdom.
With not For
As we walk together with others in their faith journey, we walk in mutual relationships, both giving of ourselves and receiving from them. When we share the love of God with others, we encounter Christ himself in their midst. The idea of mutuality is expressed by doing things With rather than For others. This necessitates that we take the time to know them. We develop relationships of commitment, to be with them in their journey rather than to simply show up for charity work.
Us not Them
Another necessary shift in thinking is to view the people that we minister among as Us rather than Them. We are all invited to share in Christ’s table. We don’t view others as a project, but we identify with them as our family - broken as we are, in need of restoration. Our own restoration and shalom is wrapped up in the reconciliation of those around us. God is already at work in their lives. It is our missional privilege to share in God’s mission of reconciliation among the people in our world.
Missional - sharing God’s love out among the people in our world
Source: Kingdom grace
Here's another post from the SynchroBlog day:
There is a fondness in missional circles for speaking of how Jesus came and dwelt among us and how we too are called to “come and dwell”; to incarnate in our communities; to “move into the neighborhood” so to speak. Coming from a church context where all members live within two miles of one another and most within walking distance, I can testify to the ways that committing to dwell in a place powerfully impacts witness, community transformation, and discipleship.
HT: achievable ends
Source: The Margins
Here's a word about a new curriculum:
This course is for those who want to understand more about what it means to be missional in a world that no longer sees itself as Christian. It’s about equipping Christians to live courageously, generously and evangelistically in the world that God has placed them. It’s not for the faint-hearted or for those who want to retreat into the Christian ‘bubble’, but for those Christians who want to live their lives out in the open, as unashamed followers of Jesus. Join those from around the world who are engaging with this 24-week small group study on living missionally.
By the end of your experience, you will have a competent grasp on the core biblical principles and practices of missional living.
The cost is a little prohibitive for smaller churches, but it looks very interesting.
Source: Exilio Project
