The Portal

A teaching about persecution as practiced by Jesus and the disciples.

[googlevideo]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3927607124063059366[/googlevideo]

Here’s what’s changed and still needs changing:

• It’s zippier!
• VIDEO is the big thing now, and we’ve got a Xenos YouTube site…but Xenos needs some friends! Help! Come and subscribe to our great video collection,connect with us, help us get established!
• Check out the Word High School video on our public Web. This is something your parents or skeptical friends will see, you it’s a good idea to look at it! If anyone thinks they can do better (than Columbus’ Vid-Heads) then let’s do it!
• We have a new Video-Head Blog where we’re gathering videos both cool and foolish, but we need more video links! Check out the PC vs. Mac spoof on fundy Christianity — priceless! I know you guys are running into other videos out there, and we really want to make those more available to others!
• The CBS needs help with their site!

Keep blogging! Join the NeoBloggers! Add your voice to the great chorus of those praising Jesus Christ and the new life he brings us!

When classes are finished, we will have a Body Meeting Christmas Celebration Gala. There are several exciting and inter-connected efforts in-motion which we must explain beyond the few leaders and workers currently involved. As fast as we can, we’re posting it in the NeoZine, as podcasts and YouTube videos:

The Columbus Love Ethics Seminar now has its own Web space which also provides (new and improved) material for NeoXenos ministries.

Christian Persecution 101: view it at the bottom of the page or as a full-page Powerpoint presentation of Keith’s teaching at the recent Word/CBS worker’s meeting. (You can also see the full teaching as a 30-minute Google Video)

A new version underway...

Revolutionary Christianity: related to persecution is the biblical mandate for Christians to impact the culture. Unfortunately, Christianity is meek and growing meeker – is it happening with us? Watch out for these provocative studies and insights.

Future High School and College ministries – Xenos reaches “church outsiders” with the Gospel message; but how can we reach more “Millenials” alienated from Christianity? Related to this, a growing bias against Christianity in public policies (especially in education) provide wonderful opportunities to spread the Gospel, we think. These policies violate constitutional freedoms specifically for Christians, and federal judges are overturning them fast, but they keep growing. These are welcome trends, and we want to jump on them and understand how to work with them.

Uncommon Sense – a booklet similar to “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine. Keith and Kalie Brooks are collaborating to write a simple, readable, small booklet for the MySpace generation. It is a series of pictures contrasting the Kosmos and God’s Kingdom. The reader is invited to pursue a hopeful future. The booklet is tied to Persecution 101, Revolutionary Christianity, and our school strategies.

Meetings without boundaries – the New Testament church was highly mobile, and we are studying this further. This Fall we stepped into some “meeting fluidity”, and we are now studying how the early church managed this. Our interest is to plant and plant without getting stretched too thin in the process.

Additional Background

For about six months we’ve been generating some articles which provide some background to these new initiatives:

• The Protestant Reformation Series at the NeoZine surveys current church movements from a historical and biblical perspective. It explains the need to break away from Institutionalized Christianity. Noteworthy articles include:
  • The Fears in Legalism – the rise of Christian legalism and the differences between Old and New Covenants in the Bible.
  • The Dawn of Covenant Theology and Heartless Institutions – help Christian workers explain the problem of church history, which is a popular objection today.
  • The Fear Factor – is a bridge to these new ministry efforts, especially the “sending” strategy underway.
• “I had a dream…” is an anecdotal (humorous) background for these “sending strategy”. (A followup is due shortly.)

Please pray for us!

We need help!

• We need help researching, organizing, sharpening and publishing useful tools for our growing ministry!
• We need to catch up with our finances, because money is quickly becoming a limiting factor in this effort!