When we first moved to St. Louis, we lived in a suburb that had two large synagogues or temples. In fact, we were the westernmost of three adjacent suburbs with large numbers of people of Jewish faith. On Saturdays, it was not unusual see Orthodox Jews walking to their synagogue. In St. Louis society, this observance of the Sabbath set them apart as few other things could or did. At the same time, Sundays were governed by state “blue laws.”... Read more
Bob Rognlien, the Director of 3DM West, wrote a post today at Discipling Culture entitled “What is the Context of Biblical Discipleship?” He and his wife Pam lead immersion experiences in the Holy Land, where they see how life was (and is still is) lived in a different context from us here in the United States. He writes, “When we visit places like Nazareth, Capernaum, and Chorazin we see the homes people inhabited in biblical times were designed for multiple... Read more
In this two-minute video, Jeff Vanderstelt makes the case that we won’t be effective in reaching people if we rely on them coming to church or events to hear the gospel. Instead, we need to approach life with gospel intentionality, so people see what it looks like to be a follower of Jesus in the everyday stuff of life. [tvideo type=”vimeo” clip_id=”123347232″ autoplay=”false” loop=”false”] From Saturate. Jeff Vanderstelt is the visionary leader of the Soma Family of Churches and the lead... Read more
So, you want to enjoy a summer on the beach (or in Bob’s case in the mountains), with a good book or two (or three)? Here is the 2015 (re)integrate (re)energize summer (re)ading list! Note: All these books are available from Hearts & Minds Bookstore for 20% off the listed retail price. MUST-READ BOOK OF THE YEAR Visions of Vocation: Common Grace for the Common Good by Steven Garber (IVP, $16.00). If you subscribe to my book-review blog, BookNotes, or have heard... Read more
Nothing teaches theology quite like “The Jesus Picture Show.” So I often show one to my theology classes, including a range of Jesus images from early Christian icons to contemporary T-shirts that proclaim “Jesus is My Homeboy.” It is a fun exercise, but it has a serious point. Our images of Jesus reveal a lot about how we connect Jesus to our lives.Traditional images can make Jesus feel Traditional images can make Jesus feel sovereign, but very distant. Contemporary images... Read more
We Christians sometimes try to be holier than God, especially when it comes to creation. We act as if the world is under the sway of the evil one. And we get our escape pods ready, practically eager to abandon creation, convinced that God doesn’t really care about it either. But that’s hardly God’s take on creation. Indeed, in the Incarnation, the Word made flesh, the Creator of the universe moves into our neighborhood. The infinite, transcendent God becomes embodied... Read more
William Carey, in the 19th century, defined Christian mission by interpreting the “Great Commission” (“go and make disciples”)[1] as primarily the geographic expansion of Christianity by means of making converts through evangelism. This paradigm influenced generations of evangelicals throughout the 20th Century. “Protestants who used the Great Commission as their foundation for mission assumed the following: that salvation was individualistic; that salvation had to do primarily with a spiritual and personal relationship with Jesus Christ; that the primary calling of... Read more
Vocation and the High Calling of Construction. In this high-quality, five-minute video, Kimberly Renner explains how her vocation as the leader of a design-intensive construction company fulfills God’s calling on her life. When other companies might be inclined to tear down an old house, the Renner Project chooses to restore it. [tvideo type=”youtube” clip_id=”okh2v7tQvtA” autoplay=”false” controls=”true” disablekb=”false” fs=”true” loop=”false” rel=”true” showinfo=”true” modestbranding=”true”] A special thanks to The High Calling for allowing (re)integrate to present this video. Read more
Over at Scot McKnight’s blog, Jesus Creed, Scot has published an excerpt from a forthcoming book by Katelyn Beaty, managing editor of Christianity Today and editorial director of This Is Our City. Her book, Co.Creators: The Christian Call for Women to Work is scheduled to be published by Howard/Simon&Schuster next summer (2016). Here is an excerpt of the excerpt (how’s that!). To read the entire excerpt, including a great story about a woman who innovated the use of photography for the... Read more
In my town, we have a Sam’s Club, as I’m sure you do. Across the street is another warehouse club, B.J.’s. We don’t have Costco here in Northeast Ohio, but I’m sure that if there were, there’d be one of those down the street as well. In order to shop in these big stores, you have to pay a yearly membership fee. These three big stores want to get customers and keep them. But if you decide that you want... Read more
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