Aspen

Aspen trees, members of the Salicaceae family and of the popular group, are quite a special breed. You see, a whole forest of trees can actually be a single organism connected through the roots. Though the individual stems can have only existed for a matter of 150 years or so, the single organism can have existed for thousands and thousands of years. Protected underground this species can even survive forest fires.

Revision #8

ECCLESIOLOGY #3: The visible and invisible church

The distinction between the visible and the invisible church has typically been attributed to Augustine of Hippo in his work, The City of God. It has been part of theology ever since. The Westminster Confession says about the matter:

I. The catholic or universal Church, which is invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ the head thereof; and is the spouse, the body, the fullness of Him that filleth all in all.

II. The visible Church, which is also catholic or universal under the Gospel (not confined to one nation, as before under the law), consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion; and of their children: and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of God, out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation.

Revision #7

THEOLOGY AND CULTURE #2: Emerging Church

A Church for the Postmodern Generation

The emerging church, by its nature is a hard to define. It has been going on for around a decade and seeks to reach a generation of those who were born into a postmodern society. Others would define the emerging church within the stream of church movements and would place it as a post-seeker-sensitive church. It is certainly a post-something church, here are some things it is post to:

Revision #4

ECCLESIOLOGY #2: The relationship between church and state

There are two essential divisions each with two subdivisions. The first division is between those who believe that the church and state are conjoined and work together and the second is that the church and state are separate spheres. In those who see church and state conjoined, there are those who believe that church rules over state and those that the state rules over the church. Within those who see church and state as separate, there are those who see that the church should be completely independent and those that see that the church should inform the state and that the state should promote the church.

Jim and Casper Go to Church

By Jim Henderson and Matt Casper

I took this book on holiday with me wanting an enjoyable and entertainingly easy to read book for relaxing whilst also stimulating. This book fulfilled such a purpose; I did thoroughly enjoy reading it and really couldn’t put it down (excuse the cliché, but it’s true).

The concept is great. Jim is a Christian, was a pastor, then gave it up to paint houses, and no runs a ministry to aid evangelism called Off The Map. Casper is an Atheist. He was sprinkled as a Catholic, but only nominally and went to Presbyterian Churches with his mum (who sang in choirs) occasionally though his dad is a thoroughly convinced Atheist. Casper is quite convinced though he is open minded.

God was Homeless for 300 Years

The other evening, I heard someone in our church talk about the building as the “House of God.” Clearly this is wrong. Amazingly, in God’s providence, I’m preaching this Sunday and one of my points in the sermon I’m re-using is on how we turn God into a pagan deity by saying that “we’re going to church to meet with God” which is essentially the same sort of point. In fact, if church buildings are God’s House, then that means that in the 300 years before God’s people started building church buildings, God was homeless!

The Tower of Babel Vs The Church

I preached on sunday as you will gather from my tiredness on Monday. And I was preaching on the community of the Tower of Babel and how it compares or contrasts to the community of the church. I then discovered, with two minutes to go, that I was preaching in college Tuesday just gone. The funny thing is, I’ve been having a recurring dream (that interestingly, especially with my last post and how me and my dad are similar, my dad also has) where I get up to preach and I don’t have my notes. So as the nightmare had come true, I had to remember my notes of the top of my head…and I managed…and I survived.

What is Church?

If you look up “cool” in Xzibit’s (Presenter of Pimp My Ride and well known Hip-Hop superstar) thesaurus, one word he would have as a synonym is “church”. So when he sees a cool car he says, “That’s church” generally with an appropriate hand gesture. So what is church?

I’m planning a extensive series on The proGnosis that defines church. But I’ve never read anyone elses treatise on ecclesiology (the study of the church) so I don’t know what to include. And so before I post on proGnosis (probably in the new year) I thought I’d open things up and ask you, what topics need to be covered in an ecclesiology, in a series that looks at “what is church”? Answers in the comments box please!