Jay: The first characteristic was white-hot faith. What’s next?
Steve: The second one is commitment to a cause. Movements aren’t just about my experience of God; they’re about changing the world.
Every movement has a unique gift that God has given them. In the Catholic religious orders refer to their founding charism. Each order has call that [...]
I’m reading Catholicism and modernity: Confrontation or capitulation? by James Hitchcock. Written in the late 1970s in the wake of Vatican II. He writes as an orthodox Catholic facing the growing liberalisation of his faith from within the Church.
There are striking parallels in the story of the Episcopalian demise in the US and Canada and [...]
Dynamic movements are committed to a cause. But what if you’re not sure what that cause is any more?
Tim Keller writes:
A generation ago, it would have been hard to imagine evangelicals unable to agree on what the simple gospel is: 1) God made you and you must have a relationship with him, 2) but your [...]
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 [...]
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