The Red Badge of Courage

I loved getting to know about the characters in this book. They were very real and very accessible. It was a story of a young man's inner conflict while thinking of and facing battle in the Civil War, and in it Crane wrote with insight, candor and irony. He made the book not only worth the read, but also worth all the debate that it has caused for so many years.

This is a nice short read. I don't think Taylor would enjoy it ;), but there are others of you who might find it quite a lot of fun.

Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Begins by Neil Cole

So, I don't necessarily want to go into all the details of the book. I'd prefer to just focus on a couple main points that got me thinking. Here are a few excerpts that got the wheels turning. Give me feedback!

Speaking of evangelism, Cole gives a scenario, "Imagine, in a best-case scenario, you go to the third door and find a single mother struggling to meet ends meet with two or three jobs. She feels weighed down with guilt and concern for her kids, and she is lonely. She hears your message of hope and a relationship with Jesus, and she accepts Him. What you do next with her is the difference between a church-planting movement and just church growth. Usually you would take her six blocks away to where the church is and ask her to become a part of your community. In so doing, you would add one more member to your church."

I know this is what I would do. Of course, not necessarily to my church, but to a church. I would heavily emphasize that it is crucial for her to get involved in a solid church in order to grow spiritually. No other thought would even cross my mind.

Yet Cole has a different thought. "In Matthew 10, Jesus instructs us to use a different strategy. You go to the first door, knock, and hope no one is home (you are still human). A friendly but cautious man comes to the door. After you talk with him, you find that he is not really interested in the Gospel.

What do you do next, according to Jesus' plan? You do not just go to the next door; you ask the man a question. Jesus said, 'When you come into a town, inquire who is worthy in it' (Matthew 10:11). His idea is genius. You ask the non-Christians who the people are in the community who need to hear the message most, and they will help you start a church"

I thought this was absolutely brilliant. And while this isn't a section that I debate back and forth in my mind, it is part of the story that he is creating. Not to overstate this point, but my stars, that simple question makes all the difference. Instead of going from door to door hoping someone may respond. You go directly to where the gospel will most likely be received. I want to try this, see how it works.

So, moving right along. Cole continues the story, "... So you ask the people in the house, 'Is there anyone in the community who really needs to hear this message?' The man says, 'Yes, four houses down, that guy is partying all night. The music is loud late into the night. There are always beer bottle all over his front lawn. Please go save that guy so that I can get some sleep.' You will find that even self-righteous unbelievers who are not interested somehow intuitively know the people who will be open to your message of hope and peace. They often try to help."

So as to not type a crapton (am I allowed to say crapton in this blog?) what basically happens is the guy is rough, you ask to pray, he softens, he gets saved.

Here's the part that interests me, yet makes me nervous. "You do not take him out of his community and add him to your church. You assume that a church is about to start here in this neighborhood. All the neighbors immediately notice a difference in this man as he goes door to door to apologize. They see the family change, and the Gospel message takes on a new level of power in their eyes. A few neighbors come to Christ."

Okay, so the guy confesses Christ. And then you let him start a church in the neighborhood. You don't put him under the authority and teaching of a church. Of course, you still meet with him and disciple him, but he starts a church in his own area. This is what happens in other countries that aren't saturated with churches. But for some reason, I'm so hesitant to allow this to happen. It seems so irresponsible to me. But when you look at Acts, that's what happened. People started churches and Paul wrote them letters. In some cases, he sent people to them, but not all of them. Here's where I want your thoughts. I see no reason in Scripture to not do it this way. Everything I see points to: do this! (Bear in mind that I have done far from a thorough study of the Scriptures on this topic- really I've just scanned my mind for something that says that one shouldn't do this). There's the whatnot in 1 Timothy 3 that gives qualifications for overseers and deacons, but couldn't those fall into place as the church grows. Then why doesn't this happen? Am I missing something big that makes this borderline heretical? Why do we have things like the Acts29 Network, where one must apply to be a church planter, pass the application process, go through boot camp, etc., etc. (I don't really know what else they have to go through!). As I say that, remember that I love Driscoll and love love love Acts29. However, why are we making these men go through such a process, Cole lets any random guy who gets saved starts a church in his neighborhood. Yet later he emphasizes the point of not giving away authority to someone to be a church planter to hastily. He reflects on a time when he laid hands on a man and prayed for him, thus sending him out as a church planter. But at the time, he felt the Holy Spirit tugging at him to not give the authority away so quickly. Should we be doing this or not? What does Scripture say?

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