p.s. one dish of stir-fry coming right up! :)

Since you mentioned the Doctor, I have a friend who’s a board member of the MLJ Trust. I’m going to ask him to submit a piece about Lloyd-Jones.

Ben

Ben, i absolutely agree. He must have an excellent sense for where the culture is going. I was mostly inspired by how well he became a part of the community, which he tried to change. And i also love his recipes. :) His Chicken Ceasar Salad was a “revelation”!

Thanks for this creative piece. In that spirit, we do need to be as innovative and creative in our evangelism as Jamie Oliver is in his. I get the sense that he has his finger on the pulse of the culture by talking to different people and really listening to them. We should all know the cultural context in which we are ministering so well! I try (most of the time fall short) to listen so well that I can articulate someone’s point of view back to them better than they can articulate it themselves.

By the way, I use Jamie’s books to cook all the time–simple and delicious recipes.

“Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

The disciples _prayed for Jesus to enable them to speak with great boldness and for Jesus to work miracles – signs and wonders – in their midst_. This is surely one of the most effective ways to demonstrate the power and truth of the Gospel.

It reminds me of a very good message – a message so on target that all I could say was “Amen!” a dozen times while hearing it yesterday: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByScripture/8/1844_You_Shall_Receive_PowerFor_Mission/ by John Piper, You Will Receive Power. I think John Piper’s message is totally relevant to us, to UBF, to the American Church in general.

At Lehigh UBF, we are praying this prayer – the same prayer the apostles prayed in Acts 4 above – and God is answering – He has answered through right-on-target messages like You Will Receive Power, He is answering by emboldening us to “Preach the Word _regardless of the consequences”, and He has answered by working truly miraculous healings in our midst.

Praise Jesus, Father, Son and Holy Spirit!!! :)

Wes, that would be a good idea. as for community, the only bible verse that spontaneously came into my mind is Jeremiah 29:7. In my opinion, much on community practices are taught implicitly in the bible and not explicitly. So i think it would absolutely be worth it to study the story of the Patriarchs for instance from that point of view: how did their lives impact their community? How were they part of it and in what way weren’t they? How did they bless their community?
Having a winsome character is clearly taught through the life of Jesus who had the most winsome character ever displayed. and i think it’s also evident that Jesus himself applied various teaching methods. So again, it’s difficult to name a single bible verse that would sum it up nicely because i think that much is taught implicitly. Same goes for creativity in doing outreach ministry. Do you have any suggestions?

David, i think it’s a very good point. i have to say that i was hardly successful when i went “fishing”. In fact, only one of maybe a thousand people ever came (and i am not exaggerating here). To be fair, i have to say that some people are much more gifted in that area as i have noticed. In my case, most of the bible students i was allowed to serve were friends of mine whom i had met at school. i know how difficult it is to reach out to students if you are not part of that community (i.e. being a student yourself). i think that’s one good reason why it is worth to think about new outreach methods.
Your cafe sounds like an excellent idea. i would love to hear more about that.