Written by Sharon on October 7, 2008 . Posted in Boeke, Dienste-Communitas
God praat – leef luisterryk: vir vergaderings. Frederick Marais. Bybelkor, Wellington. 2007. ISBN–10: 086 487 462 6
ISBN–13: 978 086 487 4627
Written by Sharon on October 6, 2008 . Posted in Boeke, Dienste-Communitas, DVD's
Spys is die naam van hierdie vars Afrikaanse DVD-reeks oor aktuele, geestelike onderwerpe vanuit ‘n Christelike perspektief.
Dit is beskikbaar by die Communitas Boekesentrum @R70.00 (posgeld uitgesluit)
Kontak Zillah by 021 808 3381 of projek@sun.ac.za
Ek dink hierdie is ‘n baie oorspronklike produk van Rudi Swanepoel wat ek dink baie lekker in groepe gebruik kan word- ek hoop regtig dit is nie die laaste van Rudi en sy span se werk nie. Ek het dit veral geniet omdat dit so eg Suid-Afrikaans is- local is inderdaad lekker
Written by webmeester on August 21, 2008 . Posted in Boeke, Dienste-Communitas
Prof Andrew Purves het in die laaste paar jaar twee uitstaande boeke oor predikantswerk geskryf: “Reconstructing Pastoral Theology” en “The Crucifixion of Ministry”.
(Dié boeke kan slegs op aanvraag bestel word en die prys is afhangend van die wisselkoers )
Beide dié boeke vra vir ’n diep teruggrype na en vertroue op die lewende Christus en sy werk in ons bediening.
Purves meen dat ons geloof is Christus soms nie veel meer as mooi woorde is nie. As ons bv oor die bediening praat, dink ons onmiddellik aan ons eie bediening in die gemeente. Die eerste boek gaan weliswaar oor predikantsbediening, maar die eerste helfte van die boek handel eers oor Christus se bediening – want Purves glo dat ons bediening min werd is as dit nie ’n deelname en navolging van Christus se bediening is nie. Oor ons bediening skryf hy dat dit `n viervoudige bediening is:
’n bediening van God se teenwoordigheid
’n bediening van God se Woord
’n bediening van God se genade
’n bediening van God se heerskappy
In die tweede boekie spel Purves dit nog duideliker uit as hy sê dat ons `n keuse het. Hy sê dat hy dit skryf vir predikante wat teen die middel van hulle bediening doodmoeg is van probeer. Ons het `n keuse: ons kan nog `n klompie jare aansukkel en aansweet en probeer klaarmaak. Of: ons kan ons bediening kruisig, doodmaak! En deel word van die bediening van Christus.
Hieronder beantwoord Andrew ‘n paar vrae wat ‘n mens ‘n gevoel gee van sy hart en denke oor die bediening.
IVP: In what ways do you think ministry is lacking today?
Purves: Far too many ministers cast their ministry back upon themselves. The danger is ministerial messianism. The fact is, we can’t raise the dead, heal the sick, forgive the sinner, comfort the afflicted and so on. It comes as a shock, I think, when we finally discover we are not the Messiah. When we think it is all up to us, our ministries have become a hindrance to the work of Christ because we have put ourselves into the place where only he should stand. When we do that, God kills our ministries—the crucifixion of ministry. But that’s good news, for us and for our parishioners. Ultimately, they need a savior more than a minister. Jesus Christ is Lord, and as such he is the true and only minister. The real failure in practical theology is timid and limited Christology. Our perception of a living, acting, reigning Lord is just not vigorous enough. Generally, we have turned Jesus into a long-gone moral influence whom we have to imitate, rather than a living Lord who is at work in every aspect of the world’s life.
IVP: What are the effects of this lack in Christian ministry?
Purves: Burnout, depression, exhaustion, loneliness, etc. By mid-career it can become a major crisis—the burden is too heavy to carry. We come to the ministerial Jordan, so to speak. The Lord, in effect, says to us, “Let me carry you across and henceforth let me do the ministry, while you bear witness to what I am up to; or stay here, keep trying to do it by yourself, and you’ll work your way to retirement embittered and weary.” Thus I have developed the classical doctrine of our union with Christ: he joins us to himself so that we share in what he is up to.
IVP: What made you decide to write a book on the crucifixion of ministry?
Purves: Frankly, in part my own sense of inadequacy—I can’t pray like Peter or preach like Paul. I am weary of people attempting to guilt me into ministry. I have also watched my wife, a Presbyterian pastor, struggle with big questions: How can I preach hard and true year after year and nothing seems to change? Why do the sore heads remain sore-headed? Why is ministry so terribly draining and as such becomes joyless? It is only when one is long in the tooth in ministry that one comes to see, to know in a deep way, that Jesus—in the freedom of his love and in the power of the Spirit—has to show up. So this has become the principal hermeneutical question for ministry: What is Jesus up to, here in this hospital room, with this congregation this Sunday morning, with this couple whose marriage is struggling? What does it mean to reframe ministry as bearing witness to a living, reigning and acting Lord at work among us? This means, of course, that at its core ministry is therefore a theological act.
Hierdie boek help leiers en reisgenote, gidse op die nuwe pad, om beter te luister. Dit lê die fondament vir die onafwendbare kreatieweontploffing wanneer leiers saam luister en hulle roeping hoor. Ware geloof is immers die moed om verder te gaan as wat ‘n mens kan sien.
Leiers wat na hierdie boek luister, sal hulle gemeentelike en kerklike vergaderings help groei van reëlgebonde vergaderings na luisterende vergaderings. Hulle sal ontdek dat die sleur om ‘n agenda deur te werk, verander in die opwinding van ‘n byeenkoms voor God se aangesig. Dit is ‘n nuwe wêreld met die belofte van ‘n skuif van demokrasie na geloofsonderskeiding, en van besluite na geloofsoortuigings.
Dié gids by die Seisoen van Luister sal leiers help om God se roepstem te onderskei en só stemme te wees wat toekomsmusiek laat opklink!
(On) Gebreek. Genade maak weer heel. Nico Simpson. Lux Verbi.BM. 2008.
ISBN–10 0 7963 0715 6
God se genade is die teenoorgestelde van die gedrag wat my gewond het. Genade is om nie weer deur God seergemaak te word nie. Genade is om my seer ernstig te neem en te begin om dit te heel. Genade is om ruimte te maak waar ek dit weer kan waag om verlore dele van my menswees te ontdek. Genade is om ruimte te skep vir my hele menswees. Genade is om nie weer, soos baie in die verlede gedoen het, vir my te sê ek moet anders, beter, heiliger, volmaakter, slimmer, foutloser wees nie. Ek hoef nie heeltyd in beheer te wees nie want ek hoef nie heeltyd volmaak te wees nie.
Ek kan maar beheer laat gaan.
Ons is nou hiér. ‘n Nuwe era van gestuur-wees. Patrick Keifert. Bybelmedia, Wellington. 2008.
Daar is talle gemeentes wat graag verder as hulle huidige situasie wil vorder. Hierdie gemeentes weet dat hulle by ‘n baie spesiale plek wil uitkom, maar hulle weet nie regtig hoe dié plek daar uitsien of hoe die pad daarheen loop nie.
Ons is nou hiér wil gemeentes en gemeenteleiers op ‘n geloofsonderskeidende reis neem. Hierdie reis het twee kante. Aan die een kant is dit ‘n veel meer beskeie projek as om ‘n gemeente te omskep tot ‘n heeltemal ander plek met ‘n heeltemal ander konteks wat dit tot nog toe gehad het. Aan die ander kant is dit ‘n veel wyer en dieper proses as die oorheersende modelle van verandering wat konsultante op die terrein van gemeentevernuwing en –ontwikkeling meestal voorhou.
Patrick Keifert is iemand wat 25 jaar lank al met gemeentes werk wat wil oorleef in situasies van sosiale stres en verandering. Hy is die stigter en president van die Church Innovations Institute. Hy tree op as gids vir plaaslike gestuurde gemeentes en die sisteme wat hulle onderlê. Tans staan die reis bekend as die Partnership for Missional Church. Die Afrikaans is die Vennootskap van Gestuurde Gemeentes.
Ons is nou hiér is nie ‘n bloudruk nie, maar die beskrywing van ‘n proses van geloofsonderskeiding om gemeentes te help sodat hulle verby blote dissipelskap na apostelskap kan vorder.
Ons is nou hiér is ‘n noodsaaklike deurbraak in die beweging van missionale teorie na missionale praksis.
Ontmoetings met die lewende God. Coenie Burger. Bybelkor, Wellington. 2007
ISBN–10: 0 86487 488 0
ISBN–13: 978 086487 448 1
Van die bekendste en aangrypendste Bybelverhale is roepingsverhale – dink maar aan Abraham en Moses, aan Paulus en die ander dissipels. Die Bybel is op ‘n manier eintlik ‘n roepingsboek: Dit vertel die groot verhaal van hoe die Here in die Ou Testament eers vir Israel en in die Nuwe Testament die hele kerk roep om Hom te help met die uitwerking van sy verlossingsplan. Die roeping van enkelinge en groepe, en wat hulle met hulle roeping maak, is die verhaal wat die Bybel vertel.
Roeping gaan daaroor dat ‘n mens jou lewe met die Here ernstig opneem dat jy glo Hy weet van jou en het ‘n plan en ‘n wil vir jou lewe
As ons werklik ons roeping wil hoor en ons hele lewe as ‘n roepingsantwoord voor die Here wil leef, behoort ons voortdurend met drie lewensvrae besig te wees:
1. Wie is God en hoe kan ek in ‘n sinvolle verhouding met Hom leef?
2. Wie is ek presies en wat moet ek met my lewe doen?
3. Waaroor gaan die lewe daar buite en hoe kan ek ‘n sinvolle bydrae maak?
Ons kan dié drie nie skei nie: Dit is eenvoudig onmoontlik om onsself te begryp as ons vergeet dat ons in God veranker is en hoe ons op die lewe gerig is; dit is eenvoudig onmoontlik om die lewe te verstaan sonder om God of ons eie betrokkenheid daarby in ag te neem; en ons sal die God van die Bybel nooit reg begryp as ons nie onthou Hy het ons lief en stuur ons na die wêreld nie.
‘n Mens se roeping lê vir die skrywer op ‘n kruispunt waar hierdie drie prosesse of lyne mekaar ontmoet. Maar dit is ‘n diep bewustheid van die Here se teenwoordigheid en werk wat uiteindelik al die verskil maak. Dít is wat al drie lyne saamweef, en aan die saak van roeping ‘n unieke karakter gee.
Dít is wat ‘n opdrag wat moeilik en soms amper onmoontlik lyk, in ‘n genadevoorreg en ‘n geleentheid omskep; ‘n wet in ‘n wondergawe van die evangelie. Dít is wat maak dat mense vir die Here dankie sê vir die werk wat Hy ons vra om te doen.
The Relational Way. M. Scott Boren. Touch Publications, Houston Texas. 2007.
“The Relational Way uncovers myths about small group ministry that have held the church at bay of decades. Each relational truth he offers is a refreshing new understanding of just how relational your church’s small group ministry must be for personal transformation to take place. If you have groups or are planning to launch a small group-based ministry, make this the first book to read.”
“In the last twenty years, hundreds of ‘how-to’ books on small groups have been published, most of which are missing a fundamental element. The problem, as Boren suggest, is that we have not approached the issue from a uniquely kingdom, and distinctly biblical, perspective. This is the caveat that The Relational Way fills. For all who long to see God’s passion for community manifested in our far too westernized version of church, and for all who have grown cynical about small group ‘how-tos,’ this is a must read!”
The Sky is Falling. Alan J. Roxburgh. ACI Publishing, Idaho. 2005.
This is more than a book, it is a manifesto, a proposal for a new way of imagining a common life together as the pilgrim people of God seeking to fulfill God’s purpose for the world in our time.
If we need new kinds of churches, we cannot develop them with old kinds of leaders. We ourselves need to become those new kinds of leaders, even as we all look to the next generations to help them be formed in new apprenticeships in the kinds of skills this book describes.
Alan Roxburgh’s most radical and powerful insight: having new kinds of churches with new kinds of leaders is not the point. In the end, even though we in the church talk and talk (and write and write) about church, church, church, church . . . it’s not about the church.
The church exists for something bigger than itself. Understanding that one thing alone will be worth your expense, tine, and effort in turning this page and reading on – with an open mind and an open heart.
Treasure in Clay Jars. Louis Y. Barrett. Eerdmans 2004
Building on the ground laid by the book Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America (Darrell Guder et al. 1998), Treasure in Clay Jars centers on case studies of nine missional congregations from across North America that are diverse in their denominational affiliations, worship styles, political stances, and socioeconomic backgrounds. The book explores eight concrete “patterns” common to these churches. Although the patterns may be different in each setting, they can be recognized in any congregation seeking to participate in God’s mission in the world.
The team that authored this book believes that “missional” says something not so much about the activities of the church as its character: “The church does not exist for itself, but for participation in God’s mission of reconciliation. . . Mission is the character of the church in whatever context it exists. “The congregations studied here are “clay jars” but each carries in its witness a remarkable treasure that points to God’s power and purposes.