To the Jews first, and also to the Greeks

Let's pick up on the conversation that's been going on in our "email dimension." Sean got us started with some helpful comments and insight about some of what it means to be Jewish and a follower of Jesus. We discussed whether Gibson's film, "The Passion of the Christ" was anti-semitic or not, and why. Are we supercessionists--has Israel been superceded by the church? Is there a continuing role for Israel in the redemptive purposes of God, and if so, what it it and how is it different from the church's role? Is Romans 9-11 a "parenthesis" to Paul's major 'argument' in the letter, or does it represent the culmination of that argument? Does any of this matter, or is it mere abstract theologizing with no real-world purpose or application?

Schedule Change for ACM

Attention all Thinklings--for those attending ACM, we've been requested to move our get-together back to 3 PM on Saturday. Could all who are hoping/planning to be there acknowledge receipt of this info? Thanks!

Offering Hospitality

I want to suggest that the church needs to recover the practice of offering hospitality to the world around us. How might a "hospitality approach" tweak or adjust the ways in which we think about mission? Have you ever experienced something that might be called "the hospitality of heaven"? Any Scriptures light up in a particular way when we frame the question in this way?

On to Columbus!

Hardly a rallying cry, I know... I mean it's Columbus, where you can't even smoke cigars anymore! Besides, not all of us will be able to attend ACM this time. But following on Robert's suggestion, what would you like to see emerge out of ACM this year? What would you see as a desirable outcome(s) from these gatherings? Whose autograph would you like to score? Coming to Columbus or not, you're welcome to weigh in! And these musings are allowed to be a bit less weighty and perhaps more whimsical than our usual output.

Challenges and Opportunities

Let's see if God might help us articulate clearly some of the challenges and opportunities presented by whatever-it-is that we think is or may be happening in the world (postmodernism? Kairos moment? Decline and Fall of the West? Kingdom coming?) What might it mean to steer a spiritual course that avoids the Scylla of cyber-optimism and the Charybdis of existential despair?

Your initial comment should mention both a challenge (problem, difficulty, hurdle, hindrance) AND an opportunity you see before us, a caution AND a "pedal-to-the-medal" exhortation! Brevity is appreciated; prolixity should be eschewed.

Infalliberrancy?

Is Scripture infallible? Inerrant? Both? Neither? Gentlemen, march off ten paces away from one another, define your terms (succinctly, please), turn and face one another, and fire away.

Will your aim be infallible or inerrant?

You're invited--RSVP, please

Yes, I know, the "please" is redundant. Anyway, I'm tryng to pull together a get-together for posters to this blog. My idea is to get together sometime next June (second half of the month) for a weekend of face-to-face conversation. My thought for a location is Miami, since Jose is there and could coordinate details, but am open to other suggestions. Boston is real nice then, too!

AND I want to do some fund-raising so that finances don't keep any of you from coming, esp. younger guys for whom an unexpected expense like this isn't doable. I can't promise that I can enable you to travel for free, but I'll do my best to take something off the tab, and we'll keep the costs once you get to wherever-it-will-be as low as we can (while still accommodating the Old Boys' need for comfy beds, regular meals, nearby toilets, that kind of thing.)

Participation limited to 12 (OK, maybe 15), and must be somewhat balanced between oldsters and younger-sters, with the tipping headed in a younger-ster direction.

Interested? Committed? Need more info, have some ideas to offer (ooh, that's probably a bad thing to ask this group!)--anyway, let me hear something from you.

"I hadn't thought of it like that before..."

With summer winding up (down?) and schedules starting to fill for the fall, I thought we could grab a moment for reflection. Thinking back over these intense conversations from the past few months, what is one way in which your mind is changing? You may not remember the post or who it was that made the comment, but could you give us a specific way in which your thinking has been changing as a result of these conversations? And perhaps it's not even that your mind has fully changed, only that it may be in the process of changing. How has something someone wrote made an impact upon the way you think/see one of the topics we've discussed?

Organic CP6

Sounds vaguely chemical... but actually, this is a continuation of an extremely lively email discussion that may have grown too large for the email format. Initiated by Joseph Holbrook's "Organic Church Planting, Part 6" paper, this conversation has ranged far and wide, and included comments from across the world and across the generations. Welcome and weigh in!

There's No Such Thing as a Free... Will?

By popular demand: what do we think about the ancient sovereignty-of-God-and-free-will debate? (I deliberately avoided using "versus" between sovereignty and free will, which kinda tips my hand...) And let's keep in mind John the M's appeal for a bit less head and a bit more lived-life--how do you live out your understanding of God's sovereignty and your understanding of free will?