Joel Kleppinger » church

Dream for a Radical Christian Community

Joel — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 20:01:52 +0000

The Problem

Jesus’ Prayer in John 17:22-23:

“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be
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Rebuild the Ancient Ruins

Joel — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 04:22:44 +0000

In Isaiah 61, after it lists what Jesus is going to do (heal the sick, free the captives), it says “THEY shall rebuild the ancient ruins.” It didn't say Jesus would do it... it said that we would do it. What are the ancient ruins?

Church Grading Criteria

Joel — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 19:16:14 +0000

Have you ever thought about why you like a church or why you don't? When I was living on the road, I decided to grade every church I went to. I started out by giving letter grades and including comments and then went back and graded on a 0 to 10 scale for each criteria and averaged the results for a score. I attended 50 churches ranging from 5 people to 5000. Here was the criteria I used to grade them.

What does it mean to be saved?

Joel — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 20:57:50 +0000

There is no doubt that we are to evangelize. But what does it mean to "make disciples," and how does this compare to the modern conservative approach to evangelism where we hope to bring someone to the point where they are willing to pray "the sinner's prayer?" An even better question is what does it mean to become a disciple?

Principles vs. People

Joel — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 08:07:07 +0000

I always thought this question was easy. Choose your principles. If you can’t stick to your principles, then what good are they to begin with? Lately, I have been reconsidering. Here's the struggle.

A Pastor’s life

Joel — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:53:38 +0000

I'm not a pastor. I never have been, and I probably never will be. I have, however, lived, worked, and spent a lot of time hanging around a lot of different pastors. And these are their stories...

The big church without a bulletin

Joel — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 03:28:35 +0000

Whenever I go into a new church, the first thing I do is read the bulletin. I figure that people talk about what they are doing and what they are passionate about, so it's an easy way to get a read on what kind of church I just stepped into and what is important to that church. That's even more true of big churches since they can't possibly put everything in the bulletin that the church is doing.