An encouragement to preach the Good News... by a devout atheist...

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The big C

I've just been watching Adrian Warnock's interview with Tim Smith (worship pastor from Mars Hill, Seattle) and had to watch a section 3 times in row to make sure I didn't miss the full essence of what Tim was saying. On the issue of culture engagement for the Gospel (and referring to an Andy Crouch book called "Culture Making" he's been reading), Tim was explaining how the standard responses to the culture around us are Critique, Copy, Condemn or Consume. There is a time and a place for these when appropriate, but generally no one cares if you critique the culture (except for those that follow your blog), no one cares if you copy or consume (because everybody else is doing that anyway), and condemning it will just marginalise yourselves. Tim (and Andy Crouch) insist that the right response is Create: to take what's around us, mash it up, and create something new that advances the Gospel. Then people will take notice, and hearts and minds are engaged and won. Our worship, our 'face', our contextualisation, is still counter-culture, it's still different, but it is also not alien to those around, and catches their eyes and subsequently - God-willing - their hearts. It's not about doing something new for the sake of it, but is certainly unfolding the "all things to all men" that Paul speaks of, and also insists we fully recognise our being made in the image of a Creator God - we're creative beings, let's use that for the Gospel...

...just throwing it out there, let me know your thoughts... (looks like Crouch's book is going on my to-buy list too...) Read more!

Beacon Fellowship Meal

Quick update to the latest Beacon news: we had a great Fellowship Meal on Saturday evening, giving us an opportunity to celebrate what God has done for us in the past year - testimonies from our new members, updates on our Cell group launch, the success of "Coffee and Chaos", Maxine's latest exploits in China - and then looking forward to what the Lord has in store for us over the coming year. We unveiled our new-look website (soon to be live! Watch this space!) and trusted God to continue His amazing work amongst us in terms of growth and community. We expect to see more family members added in the near future, and are looking forward to facing the challenge of needing a new venue for our morning services!

Big, big thanks must go out to John & Jayne, Clare, Sarah, Amanda and Tom from City Church Canterbury who served us so well with a smile, providing the evening's catering from start to finish. They're amazing.

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