The Tangible Kingdom
A friend of mine sent me The Tangible Kingdom by Hugh Halter.
Here are a few quotes that I appreciated:
What Jesus asked us to accomplish: the proliferation of global blessing and the making of apprentices of Jesus.
Yes! So often we attempt one without the other.
The longer I go, the less I know.
Ummm, I have definitely found myself feeling this.
If you go to Africa and hang out in a village of starving children, you'll get a heart for starving African children. If you hang out with the mentally ill, you'll get a heart for the emotionally imbalanced. If you want an authentic heart for people outside the church . . . you've got to be with them.
In my own experience I've discovered this to be very true. The big question is who is God calling you to hang out with in the first place? If we follow the example of Jesus it's most often not church people!
Leadership is based on choice. In other words, leaders used to get to pick their followers and tell them what to do. Today, followers pick their leaders based on whom they trust and whom they want to be like.
In other words, if we're going to lead, we had better be trustworthy leaders who are worth following.
We never reference our relationship with God as "personal." We speak of it as "communal."
When did we start isolating our relationship with God from the community of Jesus-followers? I have a hunch that it is the American way. We are so individualistic. Faith in Jesus was never intended to be lived out in isolation.
"Going deep" isn't about head knowledge or number of years following God. It's about honesty, common struggle, and being transparent in both weak and strong moments.
This is a profound truth. So often we equate "going deep" with incredible insights from Bible study and theology (which certainly have value). But I agree with Hugh that the deepest Christians I know are taking what they know and living it out in the trenches of everday life.
The Tangible Kingdom is worth reading. Pick this one up!
Here are a few quotes that I appreciated:
What Jesus asked us to accomplish: the proliferation of global blessing and the making of apprentices of Jesus.
Yes! So often we attempt one without the other.
The longer I go, the less I know.
Ummm, I have definitely found myself feeling this.
If you go to Africa and hang out in a village of starving children, you'll get a heart for starving African children. If you hang out with the mentally ill, you'll get a heart for the emotionally imbalanced. If you want an authentic heart for people outside the church . . . you've got to be with them.
In my own experience I've discovered this to be very true. The big question is who is God calling you to hang out with in the first place? If we follow the example of Jesus it's most often not church people!
Leadership is based on choice. In other words, leaders used to get to pick their followers and tell them what to do. Today, followers pick their leaders based on whom they trust and whom they want to be like.
In other words, if we're going to lead, we had better be trustworthy leaders who are worth following.
We never reference our relationship with God as "personal." We speak of it as "communal."
When did we start isolating our relationship with God from the community of Jesus-followers? I have a hunch that it is the American way. We are so individualistic. Faith in Jesus was never intended to be lived out in isolation.
"Going deep" isn't about head knowledge or number of years following God. It's about honesty, common struggle, and being transparent in both weak and strong moments.
This is a profound truth. So often we equate "going deep" with incredible insights from Bible study and theology (which certainly have value). But I agree with Hugh that the deepest Christians I know are taking what they know and living it out in the trenches of everday life.
The Tangible Kingdom is worth reading. Pick this one up!
posted by Greg Nettle at 10:15 AM
2 Comments:
Thanks for taking the time to write about The Tangible Kingdom by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay.
One of the questions Matt and Hugh often received following the launch of that book was "Loved the book, but how do I get my community to do that?" The newly launched The Tangible Kingdom Primer is our effort to help small groups and churches do just that. It is an 8-week guide to creating missional and incarnational communities.
If you would like to receive a free copy of the Primer, please contact us at: books{AT} crmleaders.org. Please provide your name, the street mailing address you would like it delivered to (no P.O. Box please) and your email address. In the subject line, put Tangible Kingdom Primer Blog Copy.
For more details on the Primer, please log on to www.tangiblekingdom.com
Hey Missio,
Ummm, thanks for the thanks I guess. Sorry, but it didn't resonate with the authenticity that Matt and Hugh talk so much about in their book.
:-(
g
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