So, when I first started blogging I started out on MySpace. So over the next few days I’m going to be posting a few of my old writings from MySpace. First one up: Three Questions for Andy Stanley.

At Q, Andy Stanley of North Point Community Church (Alpharetta, GA) asked and answered three questions about the church impacting culture.

Question #1 :: Can the church impact culture?

Absolutely! There are times where we may be discouraged, but history shows us that it is possible to impact culture. Rome and colonial America are great examples.

Questions #2 :: Should the church impact culture?

It is the responsibility of the church to impact culture. Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.”

Salt is a preserver. We are to keep culture from rotting and getting worse.

Light is a luminator. We are to show the world what Jesus is like.

Apart from grace, unconditional love, and forgiveness, there is no hope.

Question #3 :: How in the world can the global church impact culture?

We as church leaders must figure out how, within our context, we can be salt and light. In other words, what does it mean for your unique church to be salt and light specifically to your community?

All along the way, hang onto grace and truth. Depending on how you were raised, you may be hard to one of these and soft to another.

All truth = intolerance

All grace = worthless to culture (because the truth is what sets us free)

Jesus was full in both grace and truth.

We have the potential to change culture because history says it is possible. Jesus said it is our responsibility, and we need to figure out how to be that within our context.

So, here we go again. I’m going to have to start getting more consistent with this, since technically a new week has already begun. And since one of these posts was actually done today. But anyways, here are the top posts I came across this week.

Is Driscoll Nuts?

Craig Groeschel on why he still believes in small groups and the

elements of a successful small group.

Ed Stetzer interviews Andy Stanley on communication.

Is online community real?

That’s so gay!

Confessing Safe Sins

Last but not least, this morning at First Baptist Church of Maryville, Illinois, a man walked into the 8:15 am service and shot senior pastor Fred Winters three times. Winters was killed and two members of the church were injured. While this is definitely a sad situation, it is not new. In recent years, violent acts in churches have been on the rise. And while some will make the excuse that “this is a sign of the times”, we should not sit around unprepared. I cannot tell you how many churches I’ve visited, of all different sizes, that have inadequate security/emergency plans, or worse, none at all. In his blog Mark Driscoll asks the very important question: does your church have a plan?

and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
- Matthew 6:12 (ESV)

This one verse from the Lord’s prayer sparked an interesting discussion amongst some friends last night. No one disputed the belief that if you are unable to forgive others God is unable to forgive you. But at the end of the evening we were left with an interesting question: Can you forgive someone without approaching them and doing it face to face?

As we went around the table, the answers ranged from “No, you have to contact them somehow, someway, unless they’re dead.” to a simple “yes”.

So we were told to investigate the scriptures for ourselves and come back the following Sunday evening with our answers and the scriptures to support those answers.

Needless to say, I’ve been doing a bit of research. I’m of the opinion that the best practice in most situations is to go to the person (or at least contact them) and let them know you’ve forgiven them, but that there are some situations where that just isn’t ideal. Situations that would do more harm than good.

And yes, I’ve got scriptures to support my position.

But I wanted to open this up to those who come across my blog.

What are your thoughts?

Why?