Posted by Chris on Aug 10, 2009 in
Church,
God,
Life With the mission trip over, I don’t want to keep talking about myself, but yesterday was a pretty big Sunday.
7am-Shaved the travel beard. I hadn’t shaved since before leaving the States and had two months of nastiness to get rid of.
8:15am- Littleton Church of Christ, where I was priviledged to hear ACU’s young preaching prodigy Colin Packer.
12pm- Called my old friend Jeff Cole, only to find out he’s left Colorado for Fuller’s big campus in Pasadena.
2pm- Grandma’s 80th birthday. 3 generations of church of Christ leadership from across Denver showed of to celebrated. Good woman.
5pm- Met up with my old friend Michael Hannegan at Adullam. Had just enough time to shake hands with Hugh Halter and steal some food.
6:30pm- Mike and I arrived at the Castle Rock church of Christ in time to catch the last few minutes of the Angola Team‘s presentation.
7:30pm- Hugged friends and people who had a huge influence on me that I hadn’t seen since High School. Teared up thinking of some really good times.
8:30pm- Heard the story behind my good, dear friends Robert and Teague‘s choices to go to Angola and to adopt to sibling boys from Ethiopia. Prayed together.
10:30pm- Drove Mike to his car and the discussed quandry of remaining loyal to the churches of our youth in a post-denominational America.
Today was a bigger blessing than I could have asked for. I am so thankful for what God is doing in my life right now (although many days it is miserable), and the chances I get to see his work around the world. I am also incredibly grateful to cross paths with those who meant so much to me when I was younger, and see them in dedicated service to our Lord.
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Tags: Angola Team, beard, Church, church of Christ, friends, Hugh Halter, Littleton church of Christ, memories, Tangible Kingdom
Posted by Chris on Mar 19, 2009 in
Church,
Culture 
Every spring, tens of thousands of the world’s most creative mindsdescend on Austin, Texas for South By South West. The event includes over 400 indie bands, an interactive media conference and a film festival.
The first time I experienced this artistic pilgrimage, I wondered where all the churches were. My answer came on Friday night from a suited street preacher yelling for repentance.
Conversations such as the Q Conference, have shown that the Church’s role in a post-christendom culture must be to create culture that is more relevant, beautiful and creative as what the lost world has to offer. This is a far cry from Christian creative movement of the last few decades, focused on creating cheap knock-offs of secular culture.
The same day I encountered the street preacher, a nice guy from a music label gave me some free pizza and beer. He didn’t yell at me, explaining why his label was so much better than all the others. He just served me.
Every year, the artists who will shape the music, media and movies of the future come together for SXSW. What if Austin’s churches made it their goal to minister to the creators of tomorrow?
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Tags: Austin, Church, Creating Culture, indie music, South By South West, SXSW
Posted by Chris on Mar 12, 2009 in
Church 
I’ve been reflecting on my recent reunion with four college friends who have since gone into full-time ministry. We were each on our second or third church in five intervening, and we each had our horror stories.
Why is it that those who devote their lives to leading the Church have so little to show for it? Blame the minister-maybe they weren’t properly prepared, or had no business going into paid ministry. Blame our denominational schools/institutions. These guys run in Church of Christ circles, where there is no sort of “placement” system. Unsuspecting 20-somethings are left to desperately chase down a church job to pay off their college loans. Blame the church, for the cruel way they treat their servants.
Sure there is blame to go around, but we can do better! What if young ministers were required to complete a hands-on discipleship/internship, instead of just going straight into full-time work? What if the ministers submitted to a coach that would help them grow organizational and relational skills? What if elders, staff and lay leaders focused on developing these new leaders? What if we were more concerned about the spiritual formation of our ministers and pastors than the politics which make it so hard to hold on to a young minister for a year or two?
What do you think we can do better at?
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Tags: Church, fired, minister, youth minister
Posted by Chris on Feb 19, 2009 in
Church 
This is an entry that would be so much better if I had a digital camera. If you would like to learn how you can buy me one, contact chrismorton82@gmail.com.
Today, I spent my afternoon reading under a tree in Landa Park. It was a huge tree with massive gnarled limbs that spread out for over 50 feet past the trunk. One limb was a size that many trees would be jealous of. It was so large it had out grown its usefulness. A series of wires strung from other limbs, as well as a large metal pole and a concrete collumn held the limb of the ground.
In a post-Christendom America, Churches need to learn from this limb. Many churches today are a tangle of unneeded programs and nostaligic, expensive events, held together by a leaderless staff. They spend millions of dollars on methods that may not reach people or make disciples. Rather than a strong, vibrant church that stands on its own feet, the church is held together with wires and collumns.
What does your church really need to reach unchurched people? To help your existing members be more like Christ? It might hurt to let some of those cherished old limbs go. But imagine the type of tree you could become!
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Tags: Church, Programs, Simplicity
Posted by Chris on Jan 29, 2009 in
Church 
In the center of the ongoing conversation of what it means to be “missional” is the concept of being incarnational. Basically, what does it mean to live like Christ in our culture. The key to incarnation is answering two questions. First, what did Jesus do while he was incarnated? Second, are we doing those things today?
A few things did while Jesus lived on earth:
- Taught people
- Healed people
- Fed people
- Prayed a lot
- Hung out with people, of every stripe
- Criticized religious people
- Was killed
The Church:
- Excels in teaching
- Doesn’t do much healing…unless you’re a charismatic, but we don’t want to talk about them…
- Occasionally partners with non-profits that feed people
- Talks about praying a lot
- Is often exclusive, and has even built church growth theories on gathering exclusive groups
- Criticizes people of differing political, sexual or theological persuasion
- Occasionally faces persecution in far off corners of the world
What would you add to these lists? There are two more questions: Why did Jesus do what he did? What would he do today?
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Tags: Christ, Church, Incarnational, Missional
