Understanding Our Western Story

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Apr 30, 2008 in Church, Culture | 1 comment

The three sessions from the Living at the Crossroads: Church & Mission conference are now up for download.  At the sessions we received a packet of all the PowerPoints to go along with these, I'll ask Dr. Goheen if we can release those. Here they are:

Session 1

• Understanding Our Cultural Story: Our Life through a Lens (PART 1)
• Understanding Our Cultural Story: Our Life through a Lens (PART 2)

Session 2

• Understanding Our Current Time: Postmodernity, Globalization, and Consumerism

Session 3

• Living at the Crossroads of the Biblical and Cultural Story: Relevance and Faithfulness (PART 1)
• Living at the Crossroads of the Biblical and Cultural Story: Relevance and Faithfulness (PART 2)
• Living at the Crossroads of the Biblical and Cultural Story: Relevance and Faithfulness (PART 3)

Also, there are three gospel stories by David Fairchild, Jeff Vanderstelt & Caesar Kalinowski, visit the conference session archives.

Living at the Crossroads: An Introduction to Christian Worldview

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Apr 29, 2008 in Church, Culture | 3 comments

For those of you interested in learning more about how living in the Western Story impacts your Christianity, I'd encourage you to pre-order Michael Goheen's book Living at the Crossroads: An Introduction to Christian Worldview.  The sessions he did at the Church Bootcamp caused a room filled with church planters and ministry leaders to feel overwhelmed with the tensions we live in.

Description: How can Christians live faithfully at the crossroads of the story of Scripture and postmodern culture? In Living at the Crossroads, authors Michael Goheen and Craig Bartholomew explore this question as they provide a general introduction to Christian worldview. Ideal for both students and lay readers, Living at the Crossroads lays out a brief summary of the biblical story and the most fundamental beliefs of Scripture. The book tells the story of Western culture from the classical period to postmodernity. The authors then provide an analysis of how Christians live in the tension that exists at the intersection of the biblical and cultural stories, exploring the important implications in key areas of life, such as education, scholarship, economics, politics, and church.

The Western Story & Evangelism

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Apr 28, 2008 in Church, Culture, Ministry Design | 4 comments

Thoughts from Living at the Crossroads: Church & Mission with Michael W. Goheen. 

"One of the reasons we have to create evangelism programs is that no one is asking us questions such as, "What is the reason for the hope within you", "Why do you live so differently" or "Why do you love the poor, provide service widows and care for prisoners?" Our churches are so rooted in the Western story that would our neighbors think if we had Jesus removed from our life that our treasure would be removed? Or would they think it would be a small loss in relation to how we live seeking to pursue the American dream along with the rest of our unbelieving neighbors?  In Acts and the early church evangelism was built on questions because of the radical alternative way Christians lived."

Monk Development v2.0

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Apr 26, 2008 in Church, Church Technology, Ekklesia, General Technology, Monk Dev | 1 comment

Monk Development's corporate site was starting to show it's age and I'm glad I can now show off the redesigned site!  Designed by Designwise with rebuild help by our friend Kyle Sollenberger .

About Monk

Monk Development creates web-based Content Management Systems from the ground up around best-of-class technologies.  We service our clients with our design network to build award winning websites.  Our solutions are used by thousands of individuals, organizations and corporations around the world.

Monk Development began in 2004 in a home office and has since grown to now employ nearly 20 people.  In 2007 we opened development offices in South Africa.  All along we have been able to grow through being a profitable company, investing back into creating the best suite of products and services for our clients. This is is because clients are viewed as partners at Monk Development.  We are committed to create comprehensive solutions to achieve their business goals.  We recognize that our clients success online is critical to the ongoing achievement of our organization.  

Church Websites & CMS

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Apr 25, 2008 in Church, Church Technology, Ekklesia, General Technology, Monk Dev | 0 comments