manna?

Manna Book Club

Posted by Ed and Lois

We’re still meeting at Barnes and Nobles on Thursdays at 7:00 PM. Usually lasts a couple hours.

We decided to read Skipping Christmas by John Grisham for the Holidays. This book is the basis for the movie Christmas With The Kranks with Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis. Come and join us. Last week we needed three tables to fit everyone around. We talk about the books some, but mostly whatever strikes our fancy.

Frankly Continued by Michael Bishop (@ Next Wave)

Posted by Ed and Lois

Hello?

If you are reading this and have some vested interest in a community of faith - whatever your flavor, old-school or new-school, emerging or submerging - do yourself a favor and stop caring about the following things:

1. The number of people in your church. Really, it doesn’t matter.
2. The “relevancy” of your common worship.
3. How often or if ever a new person shows up at one of your common worship times.
4. The size of your church budget, building, or paid staff.
5. What any other church in the world is doing - good or bad or otherwise.

And please start caring about the following things:

1. Actively looking for the evidence of God’s kingdom - where what he wants done is done - at work, at home, at Starbucks (heaven forbid), at the beach, and anywhere else you might find yourself in the course of living your normal life.
2. Simple, honest worship.
3. Having friends that don’t give a rip about your church. Maybe you might just rub off on them.
4. Giving away money to people who need it; using existing, familiar (and free) spaces for common worship such as homes, restaurants, parks, or community centers; flattening the organization’s need for paid leadership and support roles.
5. Go on a unique, unreproducible journey with a group of people and rejoice with other groups of people who do the same.

I’m not making any promises here. If you do these things it won’t make the perfect church, but you most likely won’t be mired in burnout or depression either. Maybe the best I can offer is my own personal experience. Three years after I [mostly] stopped caring about those five things and started caring about those other five…well…I still suck as a Christian, but I don’t suck as bad! Hurrah!

I really, really, really, really, really, really love being a part of the Church Jesus is building.

Full Post:http://www.the-next-wave.org/stories/storyReader$447

 

 

The WIFI Enabled Church (By Andrew @ Tallskinnykiwi.com)

Posted by Ed and Lois

Someone asked me last week about WiFi in the church. Its a great question, and i believe that it will change the way of teaching in traditional churches over the next few years. It may also affect house churches, since much of the new growth in wifi will be in the homes

The first church I attended with WiFi was the Gamagori Community Church in Japan, where they had me preach in 2002. The signal (coming from an apple airport like the one pictured) was all over the church but no one was on-line during the service. This will change soon. And this is how i predict it will happen

1. A church installs a WiFi transmitter, probably because they want wireless access to the internet for their staff who are in multiple offices.

3. During the Sunday service, people arrive early to get the best seats - those next to a power outlet. Some church members think they are taking notes from the ministers sermon. Others know better
4. The minister decides that instead of banning wifi usage during the teaching, he (or she) should actually take advantage of the technology. The minister uploads files related to the message, creates journeys of discovery and learning for the technologically advantaged to follow (to stop them digressing from the message

6. If the WiFi warriors are too much of a distraction, a special room is created in the back. In the meantime, the techies are sharing space in the crying room or the hall way, both of which will need more power sockets. But if it is not allowed in the sanctuary, why not have a dedicated space . . and with coffee, comfortable chairs and tables. Tables will allow people to track the teaching as a group - thus preventing people going off to read movie reviews or download games.

7. The minister decides that since so many people are tracking with him in his message, he finds a way to allow the congregation to make comments, suggest links to other Bible passages, or put up prayer requests, all in real time. If powerpoint is too static, a program that allows a message to be posted to the internet and commented on would work better (a modified blog????)

Full Post:http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com/tallskinnykiwi/2004/02/the_wifi_church.html

Frankly by Michael Bishop (@ Next Wave)

Posted by Ed and Lois

“The point is, all the effort to fix the church misses the point. You can build the perfect church - and they (people in the world) still won’t come. People are not looking for a great church. They do not wake up every day wondering what church they can make successful.”

My question is, should we who are attempting to redefine church, Christian praxis, and mission in light of postmodernity think we should expect anything more? Seriously, what makes you think just because your church is not authoritative or hierarchical people are going to jump right in and begin taking their rightful places as priests and missionaries and begin acting as if they are the church? Do you really think Christians who have escaped borderline (and in some cases not-so-borderline) spiritually abusive situations are just going to turn right around give themselves over to your cause to build the next great house church movement to reach postmoderns?
Does this sound depressing? Well, of course it is. Church leaders are some of the most depressed people alive largely because they wake up everyday fighting to keep their organization afloat amongst the vast sea of consumer choices available to their congregations. It is literally sucking the life out of countless pastors, youth group leaders, children workers, church secretaries, elder boards, and on down the line. The ones who can hire the best and brightest staff to convince the best and brightest people to show up on Sunday and pay their dues are the ones that survive.
Full Post:http://www.the-next-wave.org/stories/storyReader$447

Sunday December 5, 2004

Posted by Ed and Lois

Manna meets @ 10:42 AM at the Park Theatre

248 South River Avenue
Holland, Mi. 49423-3201

Still studying Acts. Also, I’m sure we will hear a few things about the Cuba trip.