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November 9, 2010 in Rethinking with 15 Comments

The Presence of the Future

The Kingdom of God is the manifestation of God’s ruling presence. And it rests upon the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

The Kingdom of God produces the church . . . the community of the King. The church, in turn, submits to the sway or rule of the Kingdom. As it does, the church expresses, represents, and advances God’s Kingdom on the earth.

Properly conceived, the church is the community of believers who possess Divine life. This community joyfully enthrones Jesus Christ, expresses His sovereign rule in the world, and as a result, enjoys the blessings of the future age here-and-now (Romans 14:17; Hebrews 6:5). Continue Reading…

November 4, 2010 in Humor with 18 Comments

Agree With Your Adversaries

Shortly after Pagan Christianity released, a friend of mine (who is brilliant) created a video response to the many straw-man/misleading reviews that were circulating about the book.

Jesus taught us to agree with our adversaries (Matt 5:25). So the video is quite Scriptural. :-)

I still find it interesting that some people continue to write misleading critiques of the book, yet refuse to come on this blog to discuss/debate the issues with me . . . despite my continued invitations for such. Continue Reading…

November 3, 2010 in Spirituality with 10 Comments

Ed Stetzer Interviews Len Sweet and Frank Viola

The following interview was conducted by Ed Stetzer. Ed is very well-known in the evangelical Christian world today. He’s graciously endorsed two of my books, and I have a lot of respect for him.

Hope you enjoy it.

Introduction by Ed Stetzer 

Today I’m sharing an interview with Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola about their recently published book, Jesus Manifesto. I think the response to the book has been fascinating to watch. For example, you don’t often see a book endorsed by Ed Young, Matt Chandler, Jack Hayford, and Steve Brown. And, since Len and Frank are willing to dialogue today, I wanted to bring it to you attention. (By the way, Frank has been here at the blog before.)

Len serves as a professor and vice president at Drew University, has written numerous articles and books, and he is a primary contributor to the web-based preaching resource, sermons.com.

Ed Stetzer: What motivated the both of you to write Jesus Manifesto? Continue Reading…

November 2, 2010 in Rethinking with 23 Comments

The Anabaptists

The Anabaptists were part of the Radical Reformation. As such, they are some of the people on whose shoulders I stand. They stood outside the organized church of their day, but paid a bloody price for it. Literally.

The dedication I wrote in Pagan Christianity is written to them as well as to those who came before and after to maintain the testimony of Jesus without compromise in the earth. Here it is:

To our forgotten brothers and sisters throughout the ages who courageously stepped outside the safe bounds of institutional Christianity at the risk of life and limb. You faithfully carried the torch, endured persecution, forfeited reputation, lost family, suffered torture, and spilled your blood to preserve the primitive testimony that Jesus Christ is Head of His church. And that every believer is a priest . . . a minister . . . and a functioning member of God’s house. This book is dedicated to you. (Pagan Christianity, p. vii.)

Jon Zens recently shared some of the untold story of the Anabaptists with a missional church. It was fascinating. You can hear it by clicking here.  Continue Reading…

November 1, 2010 in Rethinking with 13 Comments

Reformation, Revolution, and Changing the Course of Church History

I started to write this post last night, Reformation Sunday, October 31st.

Reformation is on my mind. Revolution, to be more accurate. What some have dubbed “The Quiet Revolution.”

Keep that in mind as you read what follows.

Let me begin by saying a word about spreading ideas. It’s because of the “spread of ideas” that history changes. An idea can be a game-changer . . . a paradigm-shifter . . .  with the potential to change the course of history.

But if few people spread it to others, nothing happens. Nothing changes.

Continue Reading…

October 27, 2010 in Rethinking with 111 Comments

Rethinking the Five-Fold Ministry

I’m often asked: “Frank, do you believe in ‘the five-fold ministry’? And do you believe that God is restoring it today?” In this post, I will attempt to answer that question.

First off, my answer is largely hinged on what one means by “the five-fold ministry.” In other words, what “five-fold ministry” are we talking about? Are we talking about the two-hundred-year old doctrine of the restoration of “the five-fold ministry?” Or are we talking about the ascension gifts that Paul had in mind when he penned Ephesians 4:9–16? Continue Reading…

October 26, 2010 in Writing with 18 Comments

16 Questions: Just for Fun

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been discussing some pretty heavy things on the blog. So to lighten the air up a bit, what follows is one of the better surveys I’ve seen online.

My childhood ambition: MLB pitcher, preferably for the Mets or Yankees.

My fondest memory: Too many to list. One is when I reconnected with my old high-school buddy Joe Calautti after many years. He’s one of the most amazing guitarists on the planet. It was awesome hearing him play live and spending time in his home studio watching him play his blistering riffs and some of the songs we used to play in high school together. And of course, reminiscing about our high school antics.

My soundtrack: a mix of songs from 1965 to 1995 of most genres and many different artists.

My retreat: sitting on an ocean-side balcony overlooking Panama City Beach, Florida. Continue Reading…

October 21, 2010 in Rethinking with 2 Comments

George Barna and I Unedited

“One of the most provocative hours you’ve ever heard in Christian talk radio”

~ The Host

Click here to listen

By the way, if you can answer the $500,000 question in the interview, post it below. If you know people who are in seminary and Bible college, pass this blog post on to them. Perhaps they can give it a try.

No one to date has been able to answer it. :-)

Other Interviews with George Barna

October 20, 2010 in Church with 48 Comments

Visiting an Organic Church: A Firsthand Report

I’ve written extensively on organic church life (see the links below this post). Reimagining Church and Finding Organic Church are theological and practical treatments of the subject. Yet the term “organic church” continues to be used for any group of believers that meets in a home. (This is a misnomer as we’ve previously discussed.) The concept of  authentic organic church life is very hard to get over to a person who has never seen it firsthand.

What follows is a report from a person who visited one of the organic churches that my co-workers and I planted and are working with presently. I’m deliberately not giving the city where this church exists as this is not an advertisement, and it will detract from the point.

I hope the report will give you a better handle on what organic church life looks like in living color. Similar testimonies of those who live in organic church life appear in the links below. Note that “organic church” is nothing other than the church that the New Testament envisions. Continue Reading…

October 19, 2010 in Writing with 41 Comments

Five Mistakes I’ve Made in Writing

I’ve been writing since the early 90s, though I didn’t get published until 2005. The Untold Story of the New Testament Church was my first published book. I’ve learned quite a bit about how to be a better writer since I first began. And with each new book, I’m still learning.

What follows are five pointers I’ve learned through mistakes. Incidentally, a mistake remains a mistake unless you learn from it. If you learn from it, it becomes a lesson. Thus learning from your mistakes transforms them from being blunders into builders.

If you are a writer of any sort (from blogs to books), you may find these of help.

1. Use exclamation points rarely if ever. I’m 100% Italian. So I’m a passionate person by nature. When I preach about the Lord Jesus Christ, I can get very passionate. In my earlier writing, I used exclamation points to communicate passion and emphasis. Last year I was talking to Francis Frangipane. I mentioned in passing that I used to use exclamation points profusely, and he said, “That’s funny; I recently noticed how often I used them in my earlier work.” He also happens to be full-blooded Italian. Continue Reading…

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