Session #3: Rock Daddy

Ch 13
I don't personally have any conflict with the current Christian Calendar. In our family we celebrate the holidays that society or our culture celebrates, including Halloween and Christmas. To me Halloween is merely a time for children to dress up and have fun. That's it. Nothing more. And as far as Christmas goes, this past year my family had our nightly devotional centered around the story of Christs birth and the surrounding events. We even discussed the advent wreath and the symbology of the candles. As far as how worship would look in my ideal universe, i would have to go with my description above that I posted for the PM disciple. I have experienced it first hand, that when people focus on the why (Christ) and not the how, the are truly, truly, truly worshiping God.

Ch 14-16
I think Webbers analysis of Paul's spirituality is right on. Obviously, Paul having gone through his ordeal under went a change inside and therefore when he speaks, he speaks with authority, he speaks from experience. I wold say that my church teaches what Paul was trying to convey in his teaching. As far as my spirituality goes, God is telling me that it goes beyond what my mind can comprehend. That on a daily basis and sometimes on an hourly basis, the Holy Spirit is waging war for me against the Devil. That it truly is about the inside (ie. the heart and mind) and not about what I can or can't do physically. Not that I am a muscle head, but God has shown me time and time again here lately that I can't do things alone.

Ch 17
Evangelism is one of the five purposes of my church. This being developed from Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven Life". And there have been the occasional class on evangelism, but I would have to say that in general the congregation thinks that evangelism means inviting someone to church, and if they say no, well at least they tried. On the other hand I think that our pastoral staff understands that evangelism means outreach. It means bringing the gospel to the people and this is evident in their sermons and actions throughout the church. In relating it to what Webber says, my church holds new member classes on a regular basis. These classes help the new members fully understand our church and denomination. We also hold congregational baptisms. And once we move to our new building later this year we plan on having a Christianity 101 class for the new believers. These three activities can all be correlated back to Webber's description of 3rd century evangelism.

Ch 18
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." (Matt 28:19-20a, NIV) This is Jesus' great commission to his followers. Therefore, when we become Christians, we are ALL responsible for the disciple making process.

Ch 19-end
Webber's thesis about a return to the ancient ways to connect with the PM world, is a good place to start. I think that we as the church need to strip off the old way of thinking, which was shaped and molded by M and look with new, fresh eyes at the PM world and see how we need to approach it. Webber's thing is for us to return to the ways of the past, which placed Jesus a the center of it all. I think this is a good first start, but that we will have to continue to have an open mind and be able to think on our feet in order to be able to effectively deal with any issues that arise while engaging this PM world.
The issues with denominational affiliation and congregational praxis with this model is that the denominations were established after the Ancient model and have not only survived but thrived and multiplied. In the PM model, all things are equal and therefore there is no one sole truth. On a positive note, you are starting to see many churches, to include COG churches remove their denominational name from their signs, in order to not hinder or prevent non believers from coming in. In the CGGC, church plants are encouraged to not put the denomination in their title so as not to influence people one way or another. I see this as a good thing.
I think that the labeling of people based on the church they attend, their church history or other things is moot. I was born and raised in the Church of Christ, and never really learned what the different "titles" mean (Evangelical, Episcopal, Charismatic, etc.) and therefore, I could really care less what someone calls themselves so long as they are a Christian. I lead a coed small group and in it I told them that the only two things we should never waiver on are:
1. Jesus is God's son who came to this earth to save us of our sings.
2. The Bible is God's holy word.
Everything else can be debated and talked about, but those two items can never be.
My ECM model is definitely one that has gone back to the basics and focuses on the things that the first disciples focused on, which was preaching the Good News and community. I would rather see several small groups that are led by spirit filled leaders who meet in non-traditional places (car dealerships, libraries, homes, schools, etc.) than to have huge congregations. In the smaller groups every person is responsible for utilizing their talents according to the spirit. I think in larger congregations people are able to just sit and are not forced to contribute, which in turn means that they are not growing spiritually as much as they could.

Closing Comments
I personally liked the topic of 3rd century evangelism that Webber talked about. I found it interesting that so much time and effort was put into teaching and guiding new believers. I also liked the fact that the baptism occurred during Easter. By doing so it gave the act so much more meaning. I think that if we as the church could return to that mindset we would see the spiritual growth of our congregations increase exponentially. Think about it, if the entire congregation was involved in a new believers journey how much closer would we be? How much more of a community would we be? How much more would we be willing to reach out to those around us in order to bring them into God's fold? I am personally excited about the future and what lies ahead. I can't wait to see how God is going to use me.