Thursday, June 12, 2008

New twist for my book

I'm thinking about having a "weigh in" section at the end of some of the chapters in my book. I'd like to set up a blog for my book with the topics that I bring up throughout my story. I'll let all of you "weigh in" with your ideas on each topic. The ones I like the best I'll use in the book. I will have the blog address for each topic at the end of each chapter. So if people want to hear the ongoing discussion of what all of you think, they can go to the blog and hear your ideas. I think all of you have great stories and I'd love to share the love. It will also give people a more rounded look at each topic I bring up. What do you think of that idea? I just thought of it so I'm sure there are things I'm haven't thought of yet. Anyone want to set up the book blog?

Here's some of the topics you can weigh in on:

The Christian music scene in the early 90's (Hagquist and Adam have to go to town on this one)
Drinking and smoking (this one's all you Steve)
A culture of honesty in the church
Your youth group experience
Identity found in what you do (sports, music)
Share your crazy drama when it comes to relationships
Marriage, kids
Infertility
Miscarriage
Adoption (I need some Ivey and Los stories for this one)
Church Planting (this one's all you Nate)
Mega-church (I need to hear from pops and Giovannetti on this one)
Working with your dad
Kingdom life
Moving away from family
God surprises

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

i am in.

rev rock said...

I love your adoption stories Aaron.
But the real reason I want you to weigh in is because I'm banking on your celebrity status to up my book sales :)

Carlos said...

I'm in too Dannyboy

www.maxgrace.com said...

Well... since I've been called out by name, how can I not comment? First, congrats on your dream to write a book. It sounds great. Before you get too far into it, I'd be happy to visit a little about it... just fuel me with coffee & I'm yours.

Megachurches... God's gift or mankind's curse? I think statistics show churches getting bigger and smaller... the middle size church is going away.

I love big churches. I grew up in a small church. It has its strengths, but I would not go back to a small church. In a large church, the opportunities for ministry are almost endless. The cost efficiency is the same as in small churches. The intimacy levels can be the same. It's actually EASIER to break in than it is in a small church, believe it or not.

I'm not sure where you want to go with this, so I'm rambling.

Kingdom ministry in a large church can have a huge impact on a wide region. I think that God, the Lord of the harvest, arranges his vinedressers REGIONALLY so that we can collectively reach all the diverse people groups and individuals around us. That means a mix of big, medium, and small churches; established churches, and new churches. I celebrate them all.

I believe in the church. I love the church.

Whether big or small, a church can be healthy or unhealthy. An unhealthy big church magnifies its dysfunction. But an unhealthy little church intensifies its dysfunction. Choose your poison.

The bottom line is getting people saved and made whole by the power of God in Christ.

I'd be interested in your interpretation; why is the number of megachurches in the US exploding?

a. Consumerism
b. Effective delivery of ministry
c. Small churches are cliquish
d. God is regionalizing his church
e. A combination of the above

Later,
Bill

Josh H. said...

i think that the allure of "mega-churches" is wearing off. do we, the church, need clever marketing skills and PR people to get the non-christian into pews? i have noticed that some (not all) mega-churches have dumbed down the teaching of Jesus and have removed any "uncomfortable" issues that are clearly defined within the Bible. "sin is a poor self image". "feel good about you". "build your own christianity". it's all about numbers. about the show. smoke and mirrors. i think if churches want to see people in their pews they should spend more time teaching the Bible and less time running their churches like record labels. the Word...the Truth will bring people. worship the Triune God and return to orthodox Biblical christianity. that doesn't mean be stuffy and chant. that doesn't mean you have to be anglican or lutheran or reformed or non-demon. funny that there has been a huge moving within the lutheran, reformed, and anglican churches back to proclaiming the "good news". the Bible. biblical orthodoxy. i go to a small church that is full of younger people who are tired of being entertained. tired of the glitz. teach the Word. administer the sacraments. worship...with a piano, a band...i don't care. just get back to the foundation. i think a lot of huge market driven churches have forgotten about that foundation.

Josh H. said...

"The bottom line is getting people saved and made whole by the power of God in Christ."

great quote...couldn't agree more. btw, my comment wasn't directed at you :)

rev rock said...

thanks for the thoughts Bill and Josh. You guys sum up why I think people want to read about this stuff!