Frank Viola’s unfortunate assumptions regarding “postchurch” views

Has anyone read Frank Viola’s broadbrush generalizations of the “postchurch” mindset? He claims that much of our doctrine is based on Matthew 18:20 passage (”where two or three are gathered together”). Then he says, “Because this is the primary passage the postchurch viewpoint is founded on, I’m of the opinion that the position cannot stand [...]

Transition update

These past two Sundays have been my first experience outside the institutional church. Ever. Sure, I’ve skipped a few “services” (I’m beginning to loathe that term) in our lifetime, but otherwise we’ve been active, faithful members of a Southern Baptist church since birth. On the first Sunday, my wife and I slept a little later [...]

My Last Easter Service

Yesterday, I attended the church where I have been on staff for several years. All of the church elders were out of town, so they had asked me to lead the service. When I agreed to the date a few weeks ago, I didn’t realize it was Easter Sunday. A slight oversight on my part, [...]

Preparing to make the leap

The time is quickly approaching for my departure from professional ministry after devoting thirty-five years of my life inside the institutional church (IC). Several of my friends have tried leaving; in fact, a dear friend of mine broke the news today that he’s accepted a part-time pastoral position at a small Southern Baptist church. Another [...]

Do we have realistic expectations for others?

When I began the journey toward a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ and freedom from the tyranny of “religious performance and religious obligation” (to borrow a phrase from Wayne Jacobsen), I felt a strong compulsion to defend my decision and, more than that, to convince others to do the same thing. It was an instinctive [...]

Feeling guilty for not going to church?

Someone asked me yesterday, “What would it look like to walk with Jesus outside the box of institutional Christianity?” This person is very connected with other Christians, meeting up for prayer, chats over coffee, a home-based Bible study, and lots of one-on-one meetings with Christians and non-Christians. I simply said, “Subtract the Sunday meetings at [...]

Leaving Organized Religion :: One Woman’s Story

Here’s a great blog series by a young woman, Heidi, of Live With Desire:
Part 1: A Child Following Hard After Father
Part 2: From Legalism to Grace
Part 3: Broken Hearts and Broken Promises
Part 4: Leaving and Coming
Part 5: Deconstructions and Constructions
While living in Germany for a brief period of time, God brought a fellow American into [...]

Living in our communities, sharing God’s story

Here’s an excellent video clip by Alan Roxburgh regarding “A Tale of Three Churches & A New Age Mall in Toronto.” Based on one of his earlier books, Reaching A New Generation. At the end of this brief clip, Roxburgh says,
I keep meeting all kinds of people who are tired of the “go to church” [...]

They don’t go to church because…

Common misconceptions and clichés and false assumptions abound when such terms as “churchless Christian” or “post-congregational” or “free range believers” get introduced into a conversation. It’s understandable, in some respects, because most people equate faithful church attendance and being a good Christian. In their mind, there is NO category for followers of Jesus who neglect [...]

“On Being Post-Congregational”

Steve Knight has put together an interesting blog post that you might enjoy reading. It triggered Fernando Gros to ask, “Is It Possible to be a Post-Congregational Baptist?“

Next Page »