Are We Trying to Change the World?

Posted by Matthew in Books, Church, Culture, Making Disciples, Politics on May 26th, 2010 | 0 comments

I am intrigued by a new book by James Davison Hunter called To Change the Word: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World. I just read a summary of the book and an interview with Hunter in Christianity Today (May 2010). He argues that the common evangelical goal of changing the world or transforming the culture is not really the goal of the church. Furthermore, even if it were, the current strategy of the church to do so will not work because it is built on a misunderstanding of how culture works.

Instead of culture being derived from ideas and culture only (the common views), it is also built upon “elites, networks, technology, and new institutions.” Hunter argues that the church depends too heavily upon politics in its current attempt to influence the world. Instead, the strategy of the church for cultural engagement is what Hunter calls “faithful presence.” The goals of this engagement is to make disciples and serve the common good.

The interview with Hunter was very impressive. He seems to have a good understanding of culture and addresses many of the issues of mainline Christian cultural engagement that I have been uncertain about. I look forward to reading this.

Posted by Matthew in Making Disciples, Philosophy & Religion, Quotes on Mar 26th, 2010 | 0 comments

“Apologetics is a very powerful too, but it’s ultimately janitorial. . . . You are doing no more than clearing away debris that blocks the door to faith, and ultimatley it is God’s love that has to work its way into a heart.”

- Dinesh D’Souza

The Witness of Just “Being There”

Posted by Matthew in Books, Christian Living, Communication, Making Disciples, Quotes on Mar 3rd, 2010 | 0 comments

“The first necessary element of inductive evangelism is that it is incarnational. Incarnation means “in flesh.”. . . As a communication strategy, incarnation means that God came here personally to earth. . . . Evangelism as incarnational begins with this concept of presence, of “being there.” Just by being there you are communicating, without saying a word. . . . The Christian community in the world not only carries a message, we are the message.”

“The fact of your presence among your lost neighbors is a beginning point for your witness. They are listening. They are watching. They are asking what it means that a person claims to know God and converse with Him. And where we are present, God is communicating. Just as our common humanity ties us to our neighbors, our new life in Christ ties us to God. We are citizens of two worlds. We are here on a mission.”

- Wayne McDill, Making Friends for Christ

Jesus’ Communication Strategy

Posted by Matthew in Books, Christian Living, Communication, Highland Christian Fellowship, Making Disciples, Quotes on Feb 25th, 2010 | 0 comments

Here is an excerpt from Dad’s book Making Friends for Christ: An Inductive Strategy for Personal Evangelism. You can hear Dr. Wayne McDill present the contents of the book in the seminar our church is hosting this Friday evening and Saturday morning. Check out the details here.

“Since Jesus is our model for communication strategy, it is important to us to see how His mission is presented in the Bible. In Jesus of Nazareth God communicated with man as never before. He translated His message into a language mankind could understand, the language of human experience. Jesus was, in an ultimate sense, the Word of God to man. God had spoken once and for all time in an unmistakable way. His message was contained not only in the things said by this Visitor from another world, the message was also in who He was and what He did, His attitudes, and how He related to those around Him. His communication strategy then becomes ours.

. . . An evangelism that ignores the experience of the individual person is not consistent with the gospel of Christ. People can sense our motives. They know when we are attempting to manipulate them for our own purposes. They know when we are out for their good only, and when we aim only to fatten our church rolls and our offerings at their expense. They know when we really care, and when we see them only as objects on which to unload an evangelistic “pitch.” They know when we are actually listening, and when we only wait impatiently for a chance to continue our canned presentation.”

Making Friends for Christ Seminar

Posted by Matthew in Making Disciples on Feb 15th, 2010 | 1 comment

We are still making preparation for the “Making Friends for Christ” seminar. Less than two weeks away, now! Since there is nothing greater in life than loving God, loving people, and making disciples, please consider joining us for encouragement and training in loving others for Christ.

This is not a gimmick. It is not insincerely making friends with a hidden conversion agenda. It is learning to truly love, learning to be a real friend, unselfishly seeking the good of another.

Making Friends for Christ

a seminar with

Dr. Wayne McDill

Author and Senior Preaching Professor
at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Friday, Feb 26, 6:30-8:30pm
Saturday, Feb 27, 8:30am-12pm

The banquet hall of
The High Country Home Builder’s Association
755 Hwy. 105 By-Pass, Boone, NC
hosted by Highland Christian Fellowship

Find out more about the seminar
and download a FREE copy of
Dr. McDill’s E-Book

Showing the Face of God:
An Inductive Strategy for Evangelism

@ highlandchristianfellowship.org