12.06.07
Missio
“Charles Dickens begins A Tale of Two Cities with the familiar line “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.†This paradoxical opening serves as an appropriate epithet for the western church today, because its Constantinian positioning – which many assumed was a birthright – is eroding rapidly if not already completely gone. However, being forced to rediscover the Missio Dei in such unsettled times may actually revitalize the church and save it from becoming a museum of religious artifacts.
“In Missio Dei: In the Crisis of Christianity Fred Peatross describes both the best and worst of our times. He is frank regarding the challenges, but hopeful about the new opportunities before us. Paradoxically, the hopeful is contained within the troubling.”
Fred sent me a PDF copy of his book two weeks back and I have been remiss in not mentioning it here. I did spend a few minutes looking it over when it arrived, and I have been intending to dig deeper. So.. here is a mention, and I’ll attempt to read it this weekend so I can offer further reflection. At “Doable Evangelism” they comment,
“most books are too long and too fascinated with them self. They lack awareness of the reader. This may be because many are written by teachers who major in information rather than by practitioners who focus on formation. Fred Peatross crosses this divide and gives us the best handbook on missional church on the maret.” Wow.. Ok, I’ll get to it !
