One of my chief concerns, both intellectually and practically, has been the relationship between church and mission. Since 1997 I have been trying to connect the two in both understanding and practice. Read more…
Don’t Judge Me!
by mikestroope | July 7th, 2010 | Church, Formation | 5 CommentsJudge you? Of course not! You and I are brothers, sisters – we are community. Read more…
More rethinking of missions
by mikestroope | July 6th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No CommentsSee the continuation of Vinoth Ramachandra’s thoughts on ‘More on Rethinking Mission’.
Faith or Fear
by mikestroope | May 30th, 2010 | Formation, Hope | 1 Comment“Fear can hamstring the soul.” -Amy Carmichael
If we fear, we live in the gray areas of pause and regret. Fear keeps us from attempting the impossible, stepping beyond what is comfortable, choosing difficult paths, and loving in a costly manner. The opposite of fear is faith. To walk by faith means to believe the impossible can be reality, to live without what we think we must have, and to love without the prospect of returned love. While fear paralyzes and debilitates, faith liberates us to believe in and hope for what might be.
Fear comes naturally for us, and thus is not a conscious choice but our gut reaction to difficulties, disappointments and rejection. Faith, on the other hand, must be an intentional decision. To choose faith instead of fear is to live toward the hope of a better world, personal transformation, justice, love, etc. While fear destroys our hope, faith is the beginning of hope.
Because I desire to live in hope, I choose faith over my fears.
Wonder-working words
by mikestroope | May 26th, 2010 | Formation | No CommentsWords work wonders. Or do they?
Saying “No”
by mikestroope | May 21st, 2010 | Mission | 2 CommentsOne of the blogs I regularly read is by Vinoth Ramachandra. In a recent post, Who Says “No” to “Mission Trips”?, Ramachandra offers a needed, helpful perspective on the short-term mission phenomenon. He questions the necessity of and motives behind the large amount of mission traffic from the West to the Rest and dares to say that maybe someone should say ‘No’.