The Jesus Paradigm

Blog

  • July 4th Liturgy?

    From Dave Black Online:

    Jeffery Tucker delivers a powerful punch in this essay over at LRC: Should the Church Wave the Flag? His conclusion:

    It is a special temptation when Sunday falls so close to July 4. Surely people should be permitted to express their seasonal enthusiasms? I don’t think so. Nationalism is not part of the deepest Christian tradition. Conventional songs of secular-style patriotism cannot contribute to the liturgy but rather depart, even radically, from its spirit and intent.

    Think about it, church.

  • Autographed Copies Available

    Dr. Black has agreed to autograph copies of his book for folks who wish to order it through this site. Find details here.

  • On the Lord’s Supper

    From Dave Black Online:

    Last night I had a great talk with Jon Glass about the Lord’s Supper. How dare we settle for anything but the best in our churches! The meeting of the New Testament church was a memorable scene, radiant with brotherly love as members sat down together for a love feast that included the breaking of the bread. Christocentric, rather than preacher-centered! Alive with spiritual power! Every member making use of his or her gift for the benefit of the whole Body! And it was the Holy Spirit who was the cause of it all. The evidence for a highly participatory meeting is incontrovertible. This is what will always attract me to the writings of the New Testament — the power of the Spirit unleashed in every member!

  • Added Where-to-Buy Links

    We have added where to buy links to the sidebar.  Keep in mind that these are pre-purchase links; the release date remains approximately July 20.  When individual dealers will have the book in stock may vary by a number of days.

  • Let Him Write

    From Dave Black Online:

    Jesus writes in the sand. Why? To show that He remains above the angry mood of the crowd. By remaining in total control of Himself, He broke the momentum of the moment. Is Jesus writing in the sand of your life? Or in your family? Or in your denomination? Yes, Jesus can even speak to a denomination if we will listen. Composure in the midst of crisis. Serenity in the midst of silliness. Let Him write, Baptists, let Him write, Methodists, let Him write!

  • Jesus Paradigm Review

    Matt received his advance copy of The Jesus Paradigm, and reviews it on his blog at Broadcast Depth.

    We have created a post to maintain links to all discussions of The Jesus Paradigm on the Energion Publications blog.

  • The Jesus Paradigm Table of Contents

    Full catalog page.

    CONTENTS

    Preface vii

    Acknowledgements xi

    Chapter 1

    Introduction
    The Jesus Paradigm 1

    Chapter 2

    The Liberated Church
    Recasting Our Vision of Discipleship 15

    Chapter 3

    The Radical Reformation
    The Anabaptists and Suffering Servanthood 37

    Chapter 4

    The Priestly Kingdom
    Communal Ecclesiology and Every-Member Ministry 67

    Chapter 5

    The Community of the Spirit
    Leadership Jesus’ Style 85

    Chapter 6

    The Politics of Jesus
    Disarming the Principalities and Powers 105

    Chapter 7

    The Future of Christianity
    Habits of the Upside-Down Community 125

    Afterwords 139

    Topical Index 145

    Scripture Index 147

    Author Index 151

  • Scandalous Example of Christian Unity

    Dave Black is participating in a discussion at The Gospel in 3D.  He adds this story:

    Allow me to tell you a story, Bro. Lionel. Not long ago I heard about a congregation of mostly home-schooling families. The church was, of course, age-integrated (no Awana, no youth group, no children’s church, no VBS), elder-led (and no elder received a salary), and focused on edification during their meetings (rather than on “worship”). My kind of church exactly! One day they heard about a very traditional Baptist church across town that needed help with their Awana program on Wednesday nights. Seems they didn’t have enough adults to listen to the children recite their memory verses. Do you know what that age-integrated congregation of home-schooling families decided to do? That’s right. They said, “Well, we’re not doing anything on Wednesday nights. Why don’t we go over and help them?” And that’s exactly what they did.

    Scandalous!

    Indeed!

  • Build the Church

    “To build the kind of church Jesus envisioned in John 17 we must help our people realize that it is not about us or about our church. It’s about His kingdom, a kingdom that centers around Christ’s glorious act of self-sacrifice. If we think we can present the Gospel without surrendering and forsaking everything in us, then we have not understood the Gospel.” Source: Dave Black Online

  • Christian America?

    Andrew Thompson at GenXRising has written about the idea of Christian America and recent studies that suggest we’re becoming less Christian.

    The post and the entire comment thread are worth reading, but let me quote the following:

    The gist of it is this: There never was such a thing as ‘Christian America.’ And the Christians in America shouldn’t worry about that.

    There cannot be such a ‘Christian America,’ in fact, because citizenship and discipleship can never be synonymous terms. Christians owe an allegiance to Jesus Christ above the allegiance to the nation. And that means that a Christian’s primary frame of social reference is not society at large but rather the church.

    Dave Black, author of the forthcoming book for which this site is named, commented in the thread:

    I’m enjoying this thread, Andrew. If I understand the New Testament correctly, the church is to take on a nonconformist and prophetic identity over against the structures of the world. This is not to say that I am unconcerned about politics or about the improvement of society through legislation. Such improvements are, however, questionable if they proceed from an assumption that they will issue in a Christian America. My concern is that the church be the church, and to do that it must proclaim victory not through a political agenda but through the Christian Gospel. The Christianity of the New Testament presents not simply a more demanding ethic but rather a cross that means the death of our desire for prosperity and power. I therefore view my participation in the culture wars not in terms of calling for a macro-political utopia but in terms of the church’s calling to be the conscience and critic of culture. I’ve tried to make this point in my forthcoming book, The Jesus Paradigm.

    http://www.energionpubs.com/ep_detail.php?sku=1893729567

    In our foreign policy America must use its military power reasonably and with a scrupulous concern for peace. A superpatriotism that calls for unfettered power is both un-American and un-Christian in my opinion.

    I would in turn link this to my own post asking just how often our answer to any question or solution to any problem is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

    I certainly hope this discussion will grow in the blogosphere.