Well-Researched 3DM Warning

About a year and a half ago, I published a book review on Mike Breen's book, Building a Discipling Culture. This was in response to my own experience in a church that was adopting the 3DM discipleship strategy, and the flaws I saw in the exegesis and methodology I found in the book.

The book review lay dormant and, as I thought, forgotten for five months, when I began getting comments that turned out to be related to the struggles of North Heights Lutheran Church in Arden Hills, Minnesota. Comments began to pour in, and at the present time, there are 400 comments on that post, far more than on any other post on this blog--despite the fact that Blogger has problems dealing with more than 200 comments (go down to the bottom and click on where it says "Loading..." to access the more recent comments). In order to foster discussion, I've attempted to play the part of more-or-less impartial moderator (although I clearly have my own opinion). People on both sides have gotten angry at me, so I guess I've done my job reasonably well. :-)

It should be clear at this point that I have chosen not to capitalize on the success of that post by making this an "anti-3DM" blog. I have different interests, and my hope is that some people who find this blog by searching for things related to 3DM will be interested in some of the other things I am interested in.

But I have to break my silence. Bob Highlands from Sonrise Church has done extensive research into 3DM and has an excellent series of posts on his website documenting aspects 3DM. The series of three posts can be accessed from this page. In my opinion, the best of the three posts is the second one, in which Bob breaks down the main exegetical and doctrinal issues besetting 3DM. Bob writes from the doctrinal position of the Church of God, Anderson, Indiana, but most of his arguments can be appreciated from any evangelical position. Incidentally, Bob quotes me at one point, and I fully support and agree with his use of that quote.

Check out Bob's well-researched piece, and thanks to all the commenters who played a part in aiding Bob in that research.

Note (January 7, 2018): I've posted a link to an excellent in-depth commentary on Building a Discipling Culture at http://www.schooleyfiles.com/2018/01/new-analysis-of-building-discipling.html. I also invite any discussion of 3DM to migrate over to the comments section of that post.

All I Really Need to Know I Learned from Evangelicalism

For all you post-Evangelicals out there, Matthew Milliner writes an engaging piece on First Things entitled "All I Really Need to Know I Learned from Evangelicalism." Milliner makes the case that the roots of "shallow" Evangelicalism run deep. Check it out.

Justin Lathrop on Productivity

Justin Lathrop has some great things to say about productivity. My paraphrase: quality, not quantity, is what counts. Focus, thought, and time are necessary to quality.

Check it out.

Your Secret Weapon and the Plot to Take It Away

Jamal Jivanjee has a good post on the Illuminate blog about one of our most powerful secret weapons. I won't spoil it by telling you what it is. I will quote a portion of the post:

• There actually is a conspiracy underway to take away your most powerful and feared weapon.
• If you lose this powerful weapon, you will live as a slave.
• If you lose this weapon, you will starve to death.
• If you lose this weapon, you will lose the essence of life.
• If you lose this weapon, you will become frustrated and hopeless.

If this sparks your interest, check out the post to learn more.

Relational Ministry is Not a Strategy

Scot McKnight writes a good summary/review of Andrew Root's book The Relational Pastor: Sharing in Christ by Sharing Ourselves.

I think that to the extent that emerging and missional models of ministry failed and are failing, it is due precisely to leaders wanting a relational strategy rather than relationships with others for their own sake. It comes down to the same personal kingdom building (not Jesus' Kingdom building) that they think they're rejecting from the old Evangelical models.

The King Jesus Gospel by Scot McKnight

Just reviewed Scot McKnight's The King Jesus Gospel on Goodreads. I'll adapt it into a fuller discussion of the supposed Paul vs. Jesus problem in a later post here.

Check out Jayson Bradley's 3 Reasons to Quit Criticizing the Church. Good stuff.

Marginal Christianity: The Persecution of the Church in America – Really!...

The Marginal Christianity blog has a very interesting piece suggesting that Christianity in America is indeed under persecution--but not from the usual suspects.  Check out The Persecution of the Church in America – Really!...

Roger Olson and Evangelical Secularism

Roger Olson has recently written a passionate post entitled, "Have American Evangelicals Become Secularized? Some New Year’s Reflections on Changes during a Lifetime." I have a great deal of respect for Dr. Olson, and his piece deserves thoughtful reflection. In discussing the differences between the church world he grew up in and the church world that exists today, Olson writes,

In 1950s evangelicalism we memorized Scripture. Who does that anymore? Then we sang theologically rich hymns and gospel songs. Who does that anymore? Then we studied our Sunday School lessons on Saturday (if not before). Who does that anymore? Then we attended church on Sunday evening and invited “unsaved friends” to hear the gospel. Who does that anymore? Then we gathered in each others’ homes for fellowship and prayer and Bible study. Who does that anymore?

Why Joseph's Choice Matters

The Of Dust and Kings blog has a great article: "Divorce: Joseph and the Essence of Sacrificial Love." Here's a snippet:

Pregnant? The accusations rattle in his head, but he bites his tongue. And then, as if the pregnancy was not wounding enough, his adulterous betrothed goes on to insult his intelligence with some mystical story regarding an angel, and a divine pregnancy from God Himself.

“Yes, Joseph, I’m pregnant… but I promise I never had sex. I’m a virgin, and God magically made me pregnant! Pinky swear!”

So now he faces a choice. Betrayed, insulted, humiliated, angry, hurt – all the emotion swirls about within him, threatening to consume him, and he has to choose how to respond.

Most of us know how this all turned out, but TE Hanna really makes one think about the options Joseph really had and the price he paid for choosing the one he did. Great stuff. Check it out. 

For more on marriage, check out my book, Marriage, Family, and the Image of God .

Jamal Jivanjee on Missional Confusion

Jamal Jivanjee has a great post on the Illuminate blog--not new, but I just stumbled onto it--called Missional Confusion & the Amway Gospel.  Really great stuff.  Here's a sample:

The evangelical system has become a glorified ‘pyramid’ scheme. Like the soap, we are taught to tell people about this amazing man named Jesus Christ who loves us and died for us. We tell the world that He is the living bread. We tell people that the water He gives will satisfy. We tell people that he comes to give us abundant life, etc… then, shortly after a person is interested in this Christ and says yes, the focus changes. Instead of discovering and experiencing the depths and beauty of this glorious man, we are quickly taught that there are things we must ‘do’ to get more and train more Christ ‘distributors’.

Jivanjee also discusses the different parts of the body and how that factors in to going about the real mission of Christ in this world--very much like what I share in What's Wrong with Outreach. 

Excellent stuff. Check it out.

If you like this post, you may be interested in my book, What's Wrong with Outreach?

Justin Lathrop: Don't Believe this Church Growth Myth

Check out this blog post: "Don't Believe this Church Growth Myth." Excellent points. Dovetails nicely with "The Analogy of Growth" chapter in What's Wrong with Outreach.

Everything That's On Bob's Mind: Proof of Heaven?

Bob Mitton has an interesting post discussing the book Proof of Heaven in his latest blog post. Anyone who's read what I've written on NT Wright's Surprised by Hope will know that I like where he's going here:

In the end, my greatest concern is that this book will cause Christians to once again over-emphasize the idea of a disembodied heaven as our ultimate destiny. Whatever heaven (or as Jesus called it: "Paradise") may be, it is not permanent. The hope of Christianity is NOT floating around disembodied on butterfly wings. The hope of Christianity, as the Apostle Paul so clearly stated, is the physical resurrection of our bodies in the same way that Jesus was physically resurrected. Whatever the new heavens and earth will be, it will be inhabited by physical beings resurrected by the power of God.

Check it out.

A Really Good Reminder about Spiritual Disciplines

David Wayne (the JollyBlogger) writes a really good piece about spiritual disciplines. His take, in short, is that those of us who struggle with being disciplined in things like private prayer and Bible study might struggle because we've made first a law, and then an idol, out of the disciplines themselves. If we put the disciplines into their proper perspective, as "means of grace," as David (following older writers) terms them; if we focus on the God who loves us, and not our own performance or diligence, we will find that the disciplines are a joy and not a burden.

Good stuff. Check it out.

N.T. Wright's Surprised by Hope

I've collected the five posts in my series on N.T. Wright's Surprised by Hope into one article over on the Studies page. If you want the whole thing in one big chunk, there it is. If you're interested in printing it out, all the articles on the website are set up to have a printer-friendly format.

Check it out.

Has Modern Conservatism Become a Cult?

Has Modern Conservatism Become a Cult? » First Thoughts | A First Things Blog

The vast majority of the right subscribes to a form of libertarian populism inflected with social conservative attachments—an unholy hybrid of Ayn Rand, William Jennings Bryan, and Morton Downey, Jr.

This is a terrific article written by Joe Carter, formerly of the Evangelical Outpost. It encapsulates much of what has disaffected me from the conservative movement over the last several years, and what has made me rethink how exactly the Christian vision should be expressed in the social and political spheres. Check it out.

ht: JollyBlogger (David Wayne)

Never Really Saved to Begin With

The Arminian Perspectives blog has a great post teasing out the implications of interpreting passages that seem to warn against apostasy as though they really indicated that the person who "fell away" in reality was never a true believer. Here's a sample, to whet your appetite:

“Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died” [thereby proving that Christ really never died for him, and that he was never really your brother]. Rom. 14:15

Good stuff. Check it out.

Jim Martin on Being a Parent or Minister

Jim Martin writes an interesting piece: Four Critical Keys to Being a Parent (or Minister). Good stuff. Check it out.

The Machine Gun Hermeneutic

The Society of Evangelical Arminians website has a great article entitled The Machine Gun Hermeneutic. Contributing writer Martin Glynn writes,

I began referring to this as a machine gun hermeneutic based off a conversation I had once. My opponent essentially quoted 6 or 7 different verses at once, and then insisted I respond to every single one of them. I refused, because I knew it really wouldn’t be effective anyway, since he would ignore whatever exegesis I offered by simply quoting more texts (he had done it before). He claimed that I didn’t respect Scripture. I responded, saying that I believe Scripture to be a sword, not a machine-gun, and it is disrespectful to Scripture to treat it differently than how it was designed.

This is great stuff, and oh, so true.

Check it out.

The Church on the Edge of Revival

I'd like to invite you to head over to the audio blog. There I have posted an MP3 of a recent message I gave at Red Oaks Assembly of God, The Church on the Edge of Revival. It was one of those special ones.

Check it out.