» 2. Commitment to a cause

Heroism is the lost chord, the missing note of present day Christianity!

Every true soldier is a hero! A Soldier without heroism is a Chocolate Soldier! Who has not been stirred to scorn and mirth at the very thought of a Chocolate Soldier? In peace true soldiers are captive lions, fretting in their cages. War gives [...]

I did a great job of messing up my faith and my life as a young adult. Until I met a guy back in Australia who had come to faith on the hippie trail in India through Dilaram House—a ministry pioneered by Floyd and Sally McClung.

Six months later I ended up half way around the [...]

Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of a readiness to die. “He that will lose his life, the same shall save it,” is not a piece of mysticism for saints and heroes. It is a piece of everyday advice for sailors or mountaineers. It [...]

We couldn’t have had the Reformation without:

1) the message of Martin Luther; and
2) the printing press of Johannes Gutenberg.

Indulging in print

On a similar wavelength, some more great insights from OnMovments on Movements and Materials.

Dynamic movements use adaptive methods to spread the heart of their message like a virus.

Solid core. Pliable exterior.

Dying movements lock in their [...]

In Sydney for two days to train coaches of church planters. Looking forward to getting home.

Got back to the room from my early morning walk. Told Grant, my room-mate, “Hey a new day and we’re alive. Let’s give thanks to God and make the best of this day.”

Sat down at the computer and picked up [...]

I’m trying to eliminate paper from my life. But when this letter arrived four years ago I carefully preserved it.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the sort of people who make great founders of movements. I think this letter from Rick reveals some of what it takes to be a great founder. He’s planted [...]

Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath [...]

With mere spirituality the Church has not much directly to do. . .

Christian faith is neither spirituality nor charity. Its revelation is the holiness in judgment of the spiritual and loving God. Love if only divine as it is holy; and spirituality is Christian only as it meets the conditions of Holy Love [...]

Sitting around with a group of leaders in the early days of the Emerging church. Talking about reinventing the church for the postmodern context etc.

This floors me: “You know we’re just not reaching postmoderns. Maybe it’s like reaching Muslims. We could spend a whole lifetime and hardly see any new believers.”Shocked because I’m talking to [...]

Will the last Presbyterian please turn out the lights?

The Presbyterian Church USA is hemorrhaging.

According to the number crunchers at denominational headquarters, membership loss for the denomination in 2005 was estimated at sixty-five thousand, followed by an eighty-five thousand projected loss in 2006.

The projected 2006 loss would represent a single-year decline of 3.7 percent, the highest [...]