Archive for the ‘Consumerism’ Category
Jun
28
Posted under
Consumerism,
Culture,
Inspiration,
church growth,
creative,
future church,
influence,
leadership Historians report that transitions can take twenty-five years to shake out. But once the pieces fall together and things settle, grandchildren often look back and ask, “You mean you did it that way?” One of the most difficult things to do when you’re living in the middle of a transition is to recognize the shifts and adjust in reel-time. As a result faith communities struggle to understand declines and solutions. Often church leaders rely on what they know best-the experienced successes of the recent past. A large percentage of congregations are relying on what worked early in the 21-first-century; the crafting of the attractional worship model.
People of faith must embrace a kingdom imagination and take our enculturated lives seriously. We start when we change the terms of the conversation. We no longer critique, consume, or copy culture-we make culture.
Apr
03
Posted under
Church,
Consumerism,
attractional church,
future church,
low committment,
shallow faith The older I get, the more I observe, the more I realize churches are adrift, not unlike the Titanic, heading blindly for the iceberg of the digital worldview.
Instead of thinking deeply about the changes necessary for navigating the churning waves of change, churches are busily engaged in treating the symptoms of low commitment–cutting edge sound systems, oversized monitors, studio stages, without dealing with the deeper realities of a changing cultural terrain.
The near future will soon confront church leaders with the challenge of measuring their willingness to unlearn, dismantle, and relearn. A tremendously difficult option for those locked into the prison of their own worldview.
Apr
01
Posted under
Alan Hirsch,
April Fool,
Consumerism,
Culture,
Evangelism,
Interviews,
Leonard Sweet,
conventional church,
conversation,
emergent,
mission,
missional Read my conversation with Alan Hirsch, the author of The Forgotten Ways [here]
I was shocked when I heard that Leonard Sweet had accepted the position left vacant at Grace Community Church with the firing of John MacArthur. Read the complete story [here]
Feb
16
Posted under
Consumerism,
ecology 
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P56-zWupDcI[/youtube]
Jan
25
Posted under
Consumerism,
How to Live Is it possible to subvert consumerism, to inject a virus into it that causes us to slow down, consider the needs of others, while at the same time redefining our place in the world? Fair Trade/ethical buying is a movement that attempts to do just that.
As Brian McLaren says, “Everything must change.” With Trade as One, we harness a very powerful engine of change - commerce, and we subvert a very powerful engine of destruction - consumerism.
