The Map (or Where We’re Going From Here)
One of the hardest things to ever deal with our expectations. People are constantly forming expectations–sometimes they recognize them, other times they don’t. But one of the things I’ve come to realize over the past couple of years is that it’s important to tell folks what they can and should expect from you and what they shouldn’t, otherwise people will consciously or unconsciously make expectations and you will disappoint them. Maps are helpful in this way because they help people to know what’s coming up in front of them.
A map for us is important because we gained a lot of new readers during our “Journey in the Knowledge of the Holy” series. That’s a really positive thing. But to be honest, our tour through “The Knowledge of the Holy” was not typical fair for “Pursuing Glory.” I don’t know that I would change much about how I did the series, but it was a different style of writing in order to accomplish something different than what I normally do. Going forward, you should expect the blog to look a little different, in the following ways:
- Weekly or twice weekly writing, instead of daily posts (unless there are 30 generous patrons out there who would like to sponsor daily blogging at $10/per post).
- Less posts reflecting on the work of Christian authors
- More of a focus on Jesus and the Church He is forming for the end of the age.
If you haven’t caught on by now, this isn’t your typical general-audience Christian blog. My blog is devoted to preparing the Church for the harvest and the end of the age. I believe before the return of Jesus, the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven is going to be proclaimed in every nation on the planet and there will be a great harvest of souls unlike anything we’ve seen. I also believe there will be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit unlike anything the church has ever seen. These shifts will require the church to be simpler, reproducible, and organic and for her to a revelation of Jesus at a deep level. I call these shifts “apostolic Christianity. And its these ideas that keep me writing and posting.
So the map for the blog going forward will look different than the last 45 days. I hope to post a four part series about the nature of apostolic Christianity- what is is, how you recognize it, and why it’s important. The next series after that will be a look at the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Christian who resisted the Nazis and helped form an underground church in the midst of World War II. Finally, I hope this year to get to spend some time talking about the book “The Starfish and the Spider” and how it relates to planting reproducing churches at the end of the age. And in between those times, you’ll probably see a post here or there that some how ties in to the posts you find on my Top 10 page.
Finally, this blog is a community. The thing about community is you get out of it as much as you put into it and connections are really important. So, in order to continue grow together, here are a couple of ways to connect and build together:
- Follow Me on Twitter. I’m pretty active there. If you’re a regular reader, message me so I can let the rest of my followers know that you’re a person to follow.
- Subscribe to the Blog. Either by email or by rss feed. You can check out more details on subscribing by RSS feed here or you can hit the “Sign Me Up” button on the right side of this screen to subscribe by email.
- Finally, send me an email and let me know your thoughts about the blog so far. I love getting emails from readers.
Photo Credit: Compass and Map Mono by Ian Kelsall
Sounds great, Travis. Looking forward to the journey!
“Apostolic”? “I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:” (Revelation 2:2)
Praying Patriot
There is a lot that can be said on this and that will be said on this at some point. But for right now, let me leave you this question to your question:
If this verse is an outright prohibition of any future apostles, then why did the Ephesians even have to try the apostles? If it were an outright denial of any other apostles, wouldn’t the act of trying them leave open the possibility of legitimacy and therefore leave them open to temptation?
Again, more to come. Just rest assured we’re not talking about the re-emergence of people who will write new Scripture, because unfortunately that’s where everyone’s minds go with this topic. That is off the table. We’re talking about something completely different.
The Ephesians “tried” those who were claiming to be “apostles” but were found not to be, i.e. they were false apostles. This is not inconsistent with Scripture: “Prove all things” (I Thess. 5:21); “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but TRY the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (I John 4:1). “Those (in Berea) were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11).