Professor Zichterman will be joining us to discuss how different forms of music play an artistic role in the context of the local congregation. Please come with your own experiences of corporate worship and musical expression to participate in the discussion.
What the Incarnation are you talking about?!?!
Ben and I have been attending some pretty thought provoking workshops here in Miami at the CCDA (Christian Community Development Association) conference. In the world of Christian Community Development people talk a lot about living “incarnationally”. This word, incarnational, keeps showing up in every workshop we attend. It is not a word you will find in the dictionary. Incarnational is a coined term popularly used by many Christians to mean, ‘a person’s embodiment of the gospel in a concrete location.’ It’s not a novel idea, right; we as the Church are the body of Christ, so it logically makes sense to refer to this as living incarnationally. Not so fast though. I think we need to remember a few important things when we use the term incarnational to describe our outreach. This is not semantics; it could mean the difference between pointing to Jesus or displacing Him. Here are two important qualifications I would like to offer on the subject:
One, there is only one true incarnation, and he is Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus is the only pure embodiment of the gospel; we are not. I think we would all agree with this statement. Yet, I find myself at times eclipsing Jesus in my attempt to be incarnational rather than simply pointing people to Jesus (as well as looking for them to point me to Him), the one full incarnation. When we say we are living incarnationally this does not mean we are Jesus but that we represent and point to Jesus.
Second, we must acknowledge that incarnational living is a two way street. If we are able to embody the gospel through the Spirit in a concrete location, then it would follow that we will at times also have the gospel embodied before us by others. In other words, we reciprocally point one another to Jesus. I know when I think of living incarnationally, I think of it as my behavior towards others and not others’ behavior towards me. We must expand our view of living incarnationally to also include learning from others’ incarnational living.
What do you think? Do you think speaking of living incarnationally in our neighborhoods undermines the incarnation of Christ, why or why not? What other dangers do you think there are in using this language if any? How would you define living incarnationally? And what does living incarnationally mean to you?
NEW WINE – HEARD IT ON THE GRAPE VINE NEWS
Gospel, Church and Culture Workshop
http://old.new-wineskins.org/events/2008/10/gospel-church-and-culture-workshop/
This Saturday OCT. 16 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM in Travis-Lovitt Hall
Suggested donation: $5.00 per individual Dr. Paul Louis Metzger and Dr. Brad Harper will be speaking about how the church is to minister in culture as the triune God’s kingdom community.
Metzger and Harper will address such questions as “What is the gospel?” “What should the church’s relation to culture be?” and “What difference does it make for the church in its ministry in the broader culture that it is the triune God’s kingdom community?” Tony Kriz will serve as the MC for the workshop. There will be ample time for Q&A during the proceedings. As Christ-followers committed to Christ’s church’s missional outreach, it is important that we exegete rightly the Bible as well as the culture into which we seek to communicate the gospel. Please join us, and help us wrestle with these important issues!
Monday Night Dinners 6-8pm @ 2741 SE 87th Ave., Portland OR, Great food, great dialogue. Open invitation, bring a friend. We need your help with food.
New Wine Makers Bible Studies New Wine offers two womens small groups, held on Wednesday nights and Thursday mornings and one mens small group now meeting on Wednesday mornings. Contact Crystal Santos or Ross Halbach for more information.
New Wine Blogs www.consumingjesus.org Dr. Metzger was recently quoted in a Wall Street Journal article entitled “Mystery Shopper” (about secret shoppers paid to rate churches). There is a link to this story on the CJ site under the new post “I’d rather be shopping”, along with some questions to consider. Check out the story and then share your thoughts!
www.new-wineskins.org Also, don’t forget, there is abundant space for you to share your thoughts, musings etc… on any sort of New Wine related topic on the New Wine blog.
The Wine Press New Wine invites response from students in their column, The Wine Press, published in The Voice. Students are invited to write into New Wine with questions or comments on how to engage culture and the interns respond. Send questions to newwine@multnomah.edu.
New Wine Forums Thank you for joining our DTR between Gospel and Culture with Tony Kriz last Friday. For more information contact Rachel O’Brien.
Girl’s Hangout Night Tuesday, October 21st is a Girl’s Hangout Night in the dorms (Sorry guys, this one is gender specific)! We will be having a dessert with some chit-chat at 8 pm in 1st floor lounge of the girl’s dorm. Contact Crystal Santos for more information.
Fall into Math Night Oct.22nd (Wed) from 5:30p-8p. Volunteer Opportunity at Clark Binnsmead School (85th & Division). They’ve invited us to help with their Autumn event, “Fall into Math Night”. They are looking for 20 people to help teachers run fun, hands-on games as well as help with set-up and clean-up. Come take part in making learning fun!
How To Get Involved
Over the years the community of New Wine, New Wineskins has evolved in how we integrate students and non-students into participating in the Institute’s activities and events. While there are many activities that New Wine implements (forums, mentorships, conferences, discussions) which address various contemporary issues, the heart of New Wine is a community of people that long to bear witness (point) to Christ in contemporary culture. The key to becoming involved with and active in New Wine is by attending the events where our community is formed. There are two main gatherings that constitute the core of the New Wine community from which the New Wine activities take life:
Monday Night Dinners. Every Monday night from 6-8 PM we meet 2 miles south of Multnomah’s campus at 2741 SE 87th Ave to share a potluck dinner together with people from diverse backgrounds. The first hour is spent sharing a meal with one another and the second is spent sharing our lives with one another. This dinner is open to both Christian and non-Christian, religious or non-religious. Come ready to listen and engage people and stories from a diversity of backgrounds and beliefs. If you are interested in helping cook a main entree please contact Laura Mettler at lmettler@multnomah.edu.
New Wine Discipleship Groups (Male and Female). The women will be meeting at Laura Mettler and Kelsi John’s house at 5513 SE Yamhill on Wednesday at 6:45 PM. The men will be meeting at the A-Frame every other Friday Morning from 8-10 AM beginning Sept. 26th. These smaller groups form the heartbeat of our community as we get to know one another, while we discuss and struggle through how we as followers of Christ can best bear witness to Christ in contemporary culture. For more information on the women’s group please contact Crystal Santos crystalksantos@gmail.com or for the men’s group please contact Ross Halbach ross.halbach@gmail.com.