My friend Jason Clark, a brilliant pastor theologian in the UK, was recently asked by the UK Vineyard AVC to help teach folks how to integrate theology into their lives and churches. The result of this is an amazing video of Jason sharing his life with a class and address why we, as Jesus [...]
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The Proposed 2013 Vineyard USA National Board
Continue reading The Proposed 2013 Vineyard USA National BoardChristianity Today recently published an article about the Vineyard Columbus’ (VC) heart to love people of all ethnicity and backgrounds:
The cool part about the article was the recognition of the tensions that exists whenever two or more cultures overlap:
A lot of times churches tend to either ignore these culture tensions or, sadly more common, force those of the minority culture to either leave or conform to the majority. From what I can tell (having never visited the church personally), it seems that the VC is doing what it can to try to blend multiple cultures and ethnic groups into one body of Christ.
In the meantime here are some of my thoughts about the what Phil said: First off, I just realized that the full leadership transition is going to take a full 12 months instead of the six or nine that I originally thought. This means that both Phil and Bert Waggoner will be working together throughout 2012 (it is the here and not yet of national leadership!!) Secondly, in the video Phil talked a bit about focusing the actions and personnel of the Vineyard instead of chasing too many ministries… the example he told was of an eagle who tried to catch two rabbits at the same time. In the end, the eagle was left hungry as its attention was divided. While I can understand the point Phil is trying to make…I also have concerns about what that looks like. One of the jewels of the Vineyard is that we have tried to be a center-set movement welcoming anyone who is chasing King Jesus. This means that we have a wide range of people with different church backgrounds, theological viewpoints, culture worldviews, passions, etc. There is no ‘in’ or ‘out’ boundary so much as we try to operate as a family help each other follow Jesus (emphasis on the ‘try’ as this is a hard tension to live in). As such, my concern with Phil’s comments on focusing is that I hope it does not lead to an ‘in’ or ‘out’ mentality in which churches or individuals are judged based upon the way they look, the ministries they have or whatever boundary marker is chosen. Continue reading Vineyard USA Leadership Transition: Comments on Phil Strout’s Recent Update  Same conference; different day than the story... Yesterday and today I have been sharing some stories from last week’s Asia Summit about the Coming Age breaking into this Present Evil Age. They are stories of God’s physical, emotional, and spiritual provisions to which we give thanks and praise to the Lord Most High. These are not the only stories out of that week – nor are they ‘special’ in the sense that they are rare or unique. They are stories God loving His kids.
Story Two: God at WorkWe were supposed to hear from a panel on culturally relevant mission last Thursday evening as part the Summit’s focus on the Vineyard’s Five Values. God, though, had other plans – leading to a night of worship and prayer. At one point during this impromptu worship session, the session emcee asked if anyone had a word to share from the Lord. Some folks came forward with different pray topics and what not…ok…truth be told, I don’t know what they said as I was too busy thinking about kidneys. Continue reading Stories of the Coming Age Breaking into This Age (Part 2 of 2)
Along those lines I want to share with you a couple of stories from last week’s Asia Summit about the Coming Age breaking into this Present Evil Age. As will see over the next two days, these are stories of God’s physical, emotional, and spiritual provisions. Story One: Gray FeathersThere were four of us standing in a circle praying for unity and tribal reconciliation among the Filipino followers of Jesus. As my companions prayed, my eyes slowly closed and there out of the darkness stood a grey feather off to the right side of my vision. Looking closer I saw that the feather was sticking out of a red headband… Still not sure what was happening, I asked the Lord what I was seeing. As did I did so, the red color of the headband moved up towards the feather – turning it red before becoming a dense red cloud blocking all sight. Continue reading Stories of the Coming Age Breaking into This Age (Part 1 of 2) The last few days have been crazy!!! Just about every spare minute was used talking to people, building relationships, and networking with folks from 15 different nations. Worshiping the Lord with these guys and gals gives one a picture of heaven – the nations rejoicing and praising the King Most High! The focus of the conference as been the Vineyard Values – with each of the main sessions tackling one of the five core values of the Vineyard. Phil Strout, the new Vineyard USA National Director, spoke Tuesday night about the Kingdom of God and following the King. Wednesday morning saw a panel of speakers from various nations talk about and answer questions concerning being a reconciling community. That evening a lady from the Philippines spoke about compassionate ministry using stories from her life and the people in her church. We ‘played’ Thursday morning with folks going swimming, shopping, or sleeping. But that evening we were right back at it with a session on culturally relevant mission. Or we were suppose to have a panel talking about that… God had other plans as we spend the evening worshiping, praying for each other, and basically experiencing the presences of God. Courtesy of Wikipedia I’m sitting in an airport today waiting for my plane to load…. Not much is happening other then that… just waiting… In a little bit I will be boarding a plane for Seoul, South Korea, and then to Cebu, Philippines for the Asia Summit. It should be a good time [...] Map Courtesy of Wikipedia Two weeks ago I had no plans for leaving Idaho, let alone for going out of the country… yet, I can now announce that I am headed to the Southeast Vineyard Asia Summit in Cebu, Philippines in ten days (Nov 11-19th). It is a good things I keep a [...] The Hopping Family worshiping our Lord Last night a few of us PRV folks joined our brothers and sisters from the Vineyard Nampa for an evening of worship at a local park. It was a phenomenal time giving glory to the King of Kings with no agenda, no speaking, no tracks, nothing but [...] |
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