The Portal

So this Saturday (2/28) is our last week studying Galatians, and it closes with a bang!

Galatians 6 is probably the sweetest chapter for our fellowship. It’s the “Bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ” chapter, where Paul really clarifies how radically-different this “New Testament” way of life is. The concept of a “religion” that impacts human relationships so profoundly was simply unheard-of. Today there still is no parallel.

Read the NeoZine’s latest about the revolution of the heart which Jesus introduced; what a radical alternative to the World’s way of doing business! (There’s also some very interesting dialog with advocates of Christian ritualism–it’s worth reading.)

Next up?

Paul’s second letter in the New Testament, the book of 1 Thessolonians. Like Galatians, that this study will take us into the earliest moments in the birth of Christianity. It’s quite an astonishing book, even for Paul who was writing it.

But also we’re moving into new territory now for our Central Teaching habitat, and invading the Kent State University campus!

This truly opens new doors for our fellowship, (as if we didn’t already have many open doors!) but in many ways it is the fulfillment of a marvelous dream for some of us. We’ve been trying for years to bring a vital outreach into that very campus. and here we are: back again! Who would’ve guessed it?

Bowman Hall, near the Student Center

• For directions, use the handy-dandy location finder from KSU >>

Christians just can’t be ignorant anymore. Bummer.

Look at some of the recent controversies brewing around the Web concerning our church and sites:

• Oxford University is scrutinizing Xenos!
• The Investigation is drawing some fire.
• The Fear Factor about church tradition is drawing fire.
• Visit Issues at Stake, our new Blog for public controversies and discussion.

Complicated But Cool

The spiritual landscape is vastly more complex than anything faced by earlier generations of Christians:

• Who understands the difference between the Eastern and Western hemispheres of religions? Christians must dialog skillfully about these and a broad spectrum of  new religions.
• What’s the difference between Protestants and Catholics?
• What’s the difference between Reformed and Dispensationalists in Protestantism?
• Why do we believe that the Bible is infallible and inherent? Is it the Word of God? And who cares? Can you defend your beliefs?
• Churches are getting torn apart (three out of 4 churches are declining today) by the sheer number of anti-Christian prejudices and slogans.
• The backlash against “Intelligent Design” has opened new opportunities for cries of “Christian conspiracy” and “superstitious Christians”. Do you understand this debate?
• Biblical views on love, marriage, sex, and parenting are considered repulsive and anachronistic (outdated). Are you able to defend these biblical views?

Issues at Stake is a new Blog where anyone can post or respond. It helps develop effective and persuasive responses. It’s a way to get experience interacting,

Why Bother?

Look at how this can help our ministries is so many ways!

• Cell Group leaders and those discipling–please discuss this Blog and its responses.
• Writers and thinkers have the opportunity to air their ideas and post them for public consumption and debate. Your ideas are not just welcome, but needed. Sign up at the Blog!
• There’s a world of confusion out there we’d like to attract.

Posting publicly can seem scary. “What if I can’t answer someone’s response? What if I get a hostile response? What if I’m wrong? What if I make a mistake?”

But this is how we hone our minds and become critical thinkers: being challenged. And challenging it is!

• Yes, others may better have critical-thinking skills than yours — Good! Learn from their responses!
• Yes, there will be hostile and negative responses — even hurtful ones. Good! Learn what it means to “turn the other cheek” and still defend The Faith in a respectful and intelligent way.
• Yes, you will encounter theology and doctrines that you’ve never heard before, and maybe you won’t know how — Good! It will motivate you to study. Lisa and I faced this recently on another blog. As a result, we are going to read up on Catholic doctrine.

Hopefully nobody can ever prove we at Xenos are merely spouting what “the leaders” tell us. We need to think and pray about our beliefs.

It takes some time, but not much. But it’s time well-spent: thinking through issues, writing your thoughts down, responding… But you don’t have to post daily or even weekly!

If all of us start to join in, we will have a consistent and lively, fulfilling  opportunity to learn more and think.

Those of us who struggle with writing, you can get some editorial help from people like Keith, Kalie, Joe, and our many other helpful editors. But most important, remember that writing is a matter of practice — you’ll be improving. Isn’t that what growth is all about?

We’re now collecting our pledges for 2009, after presenting the bare minimum we need to continue our ministry efforts in 2009. Please prayerfully consider how much you can possible contribute!  So far we’ve received only $84,000 of the $110,000 we needed as pledges to keep meeting every other week for CT.

[fundraiser]

We really need these pledges in order to make responsible choices and commitments!

All eyes are fixed on the "Jesus Headquarters" ministry presented by Terry and Jordan. Read about more FST Retreat 2009 pictures below...

Your pledge will be kept private, of course. We don’t motivate through shame or compulsion. In the final analysis, your pledge is a promise between you and Jesus Christ alone, but it’s also a commitment that is received as a blessing for so many other people this ministry affects.

Pledge Form

Fill out the following form and press the button to send it to Katrina Yoerger. You’ll receive a confirmation email.

[contact-form 1 "Contact form 1"]

Welcome to The Portal for our Basecamp where Xenos Christian Fellowship ministries touch base, share resources and get the latest news.

• Sign up for Basecamp, if you’re involved in a northern Ohio Xenos ministry. If you need the registration code, just contact us or ask someone in your ministry group .
• Sign Up for the Portal Newsletter — delivered to your email address to get news updates.
• Log In to Basecamp if you’re already registered.

Useful Webs:

NeoXenos Home Page	The NeoZine	Podcast Central
Ministries, meetings, and all about it.	eZine articles, featuring Love Ethics	Bible studies online. Listen.

Crossroads Bible Study …resist…	Blogs at NeoXenos
The Bible at a Crossroads: meeting at Kent State	From the blogosphere: think

Our meeting room - Greg wanted the pink flowers.

The Fiscal Support Team normally meets this weekend to “Review, Plan, and Pray” (RP&P).  But, “Things just ain’t the same ’round here,” someone recently said about NeoXenos, and they’re so right!

We’re spending two days in RP&P, beginning February 6th (this Friday), and ending Sunday morning. So many ministries, so much growth, so many changes, and yet so little time!  Yet by the end of the weekend everyone should get at least a good picture of what God’s doing here, if not a clear picture.

Many conversations will swirl around this area over the weekend, for sure. Got kids? Bring it on! We're lining up some babysitters.

Lessons from Veggie Tales

Phil Vischer, the Veggie Tales man.

Phil Vischer, the founder of Veggie Tales, provides an excellent framework for our discussions (listen to his cool lecture online). Phil rose to great international prominence through Veggie Tales and the ministry he built around it. But then his business crashed, and he landed in a one-man office sitting alone, day after day, for over a year, wondering what happened. He was so full of vision! Where did it all go?

He once lived by this passage:

Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained…  Proverbs 29:18

After the business collapsed, he was so defeated. Why did God give him such a powerful vision for ministry, only to end in such disaster? “How could God stand back from something that was doing so much good, and watch it collapse?” he wondered.

[callout style='float: left']Quick Links: Hotel Accommodations, Veggie Tales Speech used, below.[/callout]

For a year he struggled in failure until he finally figured out Proverbs 29:18 — he understood it incorrectly.  It didn’t teach that we should devise a “vision” and push it, the way a business might create a vision for a product line. The word really is “revelation,” as in “God’s revelation.” And there was his problem: he was pushing Phil’s vision, not following God’s revelation. The verse actually reads, “Where there is no revelation, the people are drawn away.”

Phil’s story is a marvelous description of what we face here at NeoXenos in 2009. Our vision for this ministry is really quite paltry and unimportant compared to God’s revelation about this ministry. Phil quotes C.S. Lewis on the issue: “He who has God plus many things has nothing more than he who has God alone.” What a sober reminder of what makes life work!

And this is the task before us for this FST Non-Retreat: not to create a vision or great plans for our future. Rather, we need to understand what God is revealing about our ministry, how God has been leading us, and thus our future comes into better focus. Frankly, we’re forced into a position of “planning without plans” in this ministry, because everything we’ve seen and experienced in the past year has been largely unanticipated, but certainly not unwelcome!

It’s all very exciting, but do we appreciate why it’s working so well? Certainly it isn’t any human genius at work here.

Great Expectations

The minigolf course is an essential tool for planning sessions.

The approach for this year’s retreat is very open-handed, asking for God’s revelation. Much has already been given, quite generously. But do we appreciate it, and can we articulate it? This is the challenge for leaders and workers in every ministry this weekend. We’re starting over at NeoXenos — but not really, because we’ve already started something, or perhaps it’s better to say God has already started something, and we’re playing catch-up.

Can we survive another year of so many changes and new directions? Yes! We should pray for something so great! Having tasted the excitement of God’s revelation like this past year, it’s impossible to return to plotting our own course, no matter how exciting our vision may be.

Here’s the lineup and proposed approach for this FST Non-Retreat:

• Friday, 8 pm – Keith and Mark lead us into a Bible study to grasp two major currents that are carrying us along: Meetings Without Boundaries, and Dangerous Christianity. Hopefully we will have the “Battle for the Bible” DVD available for understanding an historical framework for these two currents.
• Saturday, 10 am – Brief summary of discoveries from the recent retreat with the Sphere Leader’s Under-shepherd Ministry (SLUM). This includes some radical material from Roland Allen’s famous books, “Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours?” and “The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church.” Then a brief overview of our financial picture by spiritual hit-man Greg Morscher, so we can make some financial pledges for the upcoming year.
• Saturday day & afternoon – for some, just plain fun; for our ministry groups, the opportunity to talk and prepare for the evening’s presentations; for one-and-all, a period of badly-needed, carefree fellowship (without demonstrators outside, perhaps).
• Saturday 7pm – ministry group presentations and reviews.
• Sunday ??am – A surprise that will be remembered for some time to come! (Led by Joel & Co.)

This is a Non-Retreat Retreat because we are in fact pushing forward this weekend to break new ground and rejoice together as a fellowship over the great advances the Lord has brought us!

BE SURE TO LINE UP YOUR OWN HOTEL ROOM! You may not think so now, but you’ll find yourself growing less and less inclined to leave the Holidome once you get there! There’s not only a vast pool, but also miniature golf, ping-pong, pool tables, and many other countless distractions and ways to enjoy the Non-Retreat!

Read more about it and get the details from our Talk Line!

Grab a bed while available! BE SURE TO ASK FOR THE $70 XENOS PRICE! And no jumping on the beds!