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| October
25, 2005 | Issue #13 |
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By Eric Swanson
Eric Swanson oversees Leadership Network's Externally
Focused Churches Leadership Communities. Several groups
have already convened to challenge and encourage each
other in setting long-term goals and strategies and
new groups are currently forming. You can reach Eric
at eric.swanson@leadnet.org.
One
of the outcomes of the disasters brought on
by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita was the way people
of faith mobilized for action in response to
the loss and pain in the Gulf Coast.
Churches around the country quickly assembled
money and materials, concern and convoys to
come to the aid of those who were in distress.
While politics and policies initially stifled
many governmental aid efforts, within hours
churches were
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putting
together "first responder" work teams headed
for the coast. I can predict with near certainty your
church has a story to tell about how you responded to
the disaster.
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Defining
Moments
Although it may not be obvious to some, Katrina was
a watershed event in the life of the church in America.
A line was drawn in the sand. Churches had to declare,
with respect to helping those outside the church, whether
they were "in" or they were "out."
There was no neutral ground. There was no time for debate
and rhetoric, for the world awaited a church with broad
shoulders and big hands to do something.
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preparation for evacuees in Dallas |
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In
Houston, for example, a coalition of the faith
community led by several pastors basically said,
"The time for talk is over. It's time to
put up or shut up, but if you come to help,
check your egos and your logos at the door.
This is not about us."
In response, tens of thousands in Houston churches
rolled up their sleeves, fed and cared for the
multitude of evacuees in the Superdome.
It was a defining moment of selflessness for
the American church that even grabbed the attention
of the New York Times in a story titled,
A
New Meaning for 'Organized Religion': It Helps
the Needy Quickly. |
Newspapers across the country, and even the British
press, noted the swift movement of churches into relief
and recovery operations. Researcher Bryan Jackson told
the Times that...
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Spiritual
Growth a Low Priority
A recent Barna survey explored seven dimensions
of spiritual development, asking respondents to
rate themselves in each area. Researcher George
Barna notes, "most people do not feel as
if they are learning enough about God, the Christian
faith, or their role in the world and most of
them don't seem to care." (Barna Online 9/27/05)
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Survey: We Don't Think We'll Be Alone in Heaven
79% of Americans believe someone of a faith other
than their own can attain salvation or go to heaven.
Source: August 2005 poll of 1,004 Americans conducted
by Newsweek magazine and Beliefnet.
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Multimedia
Filling Our Kid's Rooms
According to USA Today, our children's
rooms have plenty of mediated sights and sounds.
Their research reveals that 68% of kids 8 to 18
years of age have a television in their bedroom,
54% have a VCR or DVD, 49% a video-game player
and 31% have computers. (Pastors Weekly Briefing
9/30/05) |
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Find
these and other past Advance articles at our archives:
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How
Are We Doing?
Please take two minutes to give us some feedback.
April 2005 saw the launch of Leadership Network ADVANCE
and we'd like to know how well it's working for you.
What do you think of the format? What do you find most
useful? What would you like to see more of? To give
us your feedback, either click
here to take a two-question survey, or simply write
your comments as an e-mail to Publications Coordinator
Stephanie
Plagens.
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Through
Leadership Network, I've seen the amazingly talented
church leaders that God has provided to reach
the world today. These
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leaders
are using their entrepreneurial gifts and starting churches
from scratch, converting thousands of former unbelievers
and changing their communities and the world.
The biggest impact for me came through my participation
in the Leadership Network conference in January 2005
in Nevada. At that gathering, I learned that there is
another way to do church with church planting programs,
multi-site churches and Halftime leaders.
Barry Davis
Leadership Network Board member
President/CEO of Crosstex Energy
www.crosstexenergy.com |
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Insight
From A New Kind of Christian
The stirring fable in the book A New
Kind of Christian--a conversation between
a pastor and his daughter's high school science
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teacher--reveals
that wisdom for life's most pressing spiritual questions
can come from the most unlikely sources.
Author and pastor Brian McLaren captures a fresh pulse
of Christianity--where personal, daily interaction with
God is more important than institutional church structures,
faith is more about a way of life than a system of mental
belief, and being authentically good is more important
than being doctrinally "right."
You can order the book by going to www.leadnet.org,
or you can purchase the new boxed set online through
Amazon.com.
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