Author Archives: rthenderson

BLOG. 5/22/13: REACTION TO LAST BLOG ON LIFE-SPAN OF THE CHURCH   I received an interesting comment, somewhat in reaction to my insistence in the last Blog, that a church must reproduce itself every generation.   My respondent was of … Continue reading →

BLOG 5/20/13: WHAT IS THE LIFE-SPAN OF A CHURCH COMMUNITY? Here’s a good Monday morning question for you: If a Christian community (i.e., a church) is a living organism created to be the communal incarnation of Christ, and of his … Continue reading →

BLOG 5/16/13. A BIT OF SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION I hope that my readers will forgive me for a bit of self-promotion. It is prompted by the email advertisement of Wipf and Stock Publishers this week, promoting their new publications in theology. … Continue reading →

BLOG. 5/13/13. THE LIABILITY OF BEING CALLED “REVEREND’ Whenever someone calls me Doctor (which I’m not), or Reverend (which title I disdain), I find that something inevitably happens, there is some kind of an invisible barrier that descends and makes … Continue reading →

BLOG 5/9/13: WHAT IS THE LIFE-SPAN OF A CONGREGATION? The life span of a congregation: what? I was discussing this with a wonderful friend who is a church planter over lunch in our favorite pub one day. So a vital … Continue reading →

BLOG 5/6/13: MAYBE A WORD FROM JEFF BEZOS TO CHURCH LEADERSHIP It may be a weird place to find some profound wisdom for the church leadership who live frustrated with the impotence of so much of the church scene, but, … Continue reading →

BLOG 5/2/13 AT THE END OF THE LORD’S PRAYER … A WAKE-UP CALL At the end of the Lord’s Prayer there is an interesting “wake-up call” that doesn’t get much notice. At the beginning of that prayer is the petition … Continue reading →

BLOG. 4/29/13. WHAT ABOUT: “INTENTIONAL CHRISIAN COMMUNITIES?” Sometimes, when looking at the church scene in my community, I am bewildered by the huge diversity of expressions, some fruitful and contagious, others cumbersome, moribund—captive to their traditions—and passive with ‘what is’ … Continue reading →

BLOG 4/25/13. THE CHURCH: THINKING OUT OF THE PAST, INTO THE FUTURE This Blog’s designation comes from a book of mine entitled: Enchanted Community: Journey Into the Mystery of the Church. When I gave the book that title, one of … Continue reading →

BLOG 4/22/13. BOSTON—ANGER, OF COURSE, BUT HATE? NOT AT ALL Let me add my “two cents worth” by way of personal reflection on the tragic events in Boston a week ago today. I, like most, was understandably incensed at the … Continue reading →