Ungeachtet dessen, ob ich das idea-Spektrum (Nachrichtenmagazin der Evangelischen Kirche) als christliche Bild-Zeitung betitele oder als wertvolle und vertrauenswürdige Informationsquelle - dort sind des öfteren durchaus hilfreiche Beiträge zu finden!So z.B. der Beitrag "Eine „wachsende Kirche“ fängt beim Pfarrer an " von Walter Nigg (siehe Link) mit der erstaunlichen Erkenntnis, dass Gemeindeerneuerung bei der geistlichen Erneuerung des Pfarrers/Gemeindeleiters beginnt, frei nach dem Motto "Wie der Herr, so's Gscherr." Wie wahr, wie wahr!Ein kleiner Ausschnitt und Vorgeschmack als Ermutigung, sich auf diesen Artikel online einzulassen, für alle, die sich in dieser Position befinden: "Wir sind in die besondere Nähe Christi berufen, um mehr in der Schrift zu meditieren, mehr mit Christus zu reden als andere, die die Zeit dazu nicht haben, und wir sollen im Umgang mit ihm lernen, gute Hirten zu sein. "Preist den Herrn für diese so besondere Berufung! Das ist es doch wert, sie von ganzem Herzen zu ergreifen und an diesem Aspekt ausgerichtet zu leben!
a suggestion to a new way of reading our bibles
Little by little it's dawning to me, that throughout twenty years of being influecned by our Western church-culture I got into some way of viewing and handling my bible that I'm not satisfied with any more. I guess this way of reading your bible is pretty close to what you experience: At some point in the morning you open your bible, quickly go through the verses suggested in your bible-reading plan. If you actually experience that God is speaking through this to you - halleluja! - if not, got another chance tomorrow, let's move on!And sadly enough all too often this is my way of reading the bible, too. But as I'm getting more and more unsatisfied with that I believe that this is absolutely not the way the bible itself is suggesting. All verses that I remember about opening myself up to the word of God are about "meditating on" or "thinking about" God's word - which is absolutely unlike simply "reading". I made it my prayer to God to alter my way of treating his word and to show me the steps that I need to go to lead me deeper into the wisdom and knowledge of his word. And I already experienced, that the part that I'm taking in fulfilling this prayer, is hard work, and requires some costs. But it's worth it. Do you want to do the same?
Agressive Christianity according to the co-founder
“I believe that Satan’s strategy has always been, and continues to be, to deceive God’s own people. Let me tell you one of the ways that he has succeeded in doing that: In regards to our responsibility to the world. Satan has got us to accept what I call a “namby-pamby, little kid two-hand-touch football” presentation of the Gospel. This is the half-scared, half-committed way of putting the truth of Jesus before uncommitted people, thinking that this is the appropriate, sensitive way to talk to them about their souls.
Jesus said: “Go into the world. Go everywhere and announce the message of God’s good news to one and to all.” Do you think that these words meant, “Go and build chapels and churches and invite the people to come one or two days a week, and if they don’t then leave them alone?”
“You go!” Jesus orders. Go where? Go everywhere to everyone! Wherever you find them, if they have a soul, then you announce the message of God’s good news. If I understand it correctly, that is the meaning and the heart behind the commission.
They are asleep – go and wake them up. They don’t see the danger that they are in. If they saw it they wouldn’t need you to run after them. The problem is they are preoccupied. Open their eyes, and turn them around by your desperation and forceful care. Do not be satisfied with just throwing around a good word about Jesus. Do not be content with gentle invitations and then prayerfully leaving them alone. Jesus wasn’t! He ran after them and pulled them out of the Hell to which they were heading.
I can hear some people whining and saying, “But you must be careful, we don’t want to push them away.” Come on! Do you expect me to wait until the uncommitted, godless person wants to be saved before I try to save them? Do you expect me to wait until my unsaved friends drift off towards hell, and never tell them about the state of their lives?
We have to make them look at the light, take off their blinders, open their eyes to make them suffer through it. If they run away from us the first time then we find them and do it all over the next time. We don’t let them have any peace until they get right with God and get their souls saved.
This is what Christianity ought to be doing right here, right now. Just do it. Don’t let your family, friends, and acquaintances die with their blood on your hands.”
Catherine Booth
Just a little reminder.
Some of you Germans might now Adrian Plasses book "The visit" which now is available as DVD. Get you hands on it - it's worth it!This movie opened my heart anew to Jesus' way of meeting and touching individuals. Jesus absolutely unlike us doesn't overlook someone who is hurt, lonely and in need of help. And he takes time to meet him. Jesus also doesn't flee from situations that go deep, he doesn't make unnecessary words, doesn't fall into embarassment but uses the tension we normally flee from to heal and set free from what enslaves us. All of this lead me to one simple prayer: "I want to be more like you, Jesus!" - Which is nothing but a prayer for holiness, holiness stripped down to what it really is. All I seriously don't want to be like is what was picture in the movie in the figure of Peter - held captive in outward rules and forms that so often seem so normal in our church life. But, I'm afraid that sometimes I'm pretty close to being directed more by these rules than by Jesus' example. Unless he's the only one I look up to.
