Today I spent some time at a local airport that mainly serves small private planes.

There’s a flight school that gives instruction in a hanger right there off the runway. New pilots are commissioned after going through training that teaches the basics and live in-the-air lessons.

As I head out to a weekend retreat this week, I share some of the reflections about the spiritual highs that we may experience after an amazing Christian conference, church retreat or even after hearing a famous preacher’s semonic mastery in the pulpit.

But there’s one crticial lesson of flying high that pilots are taught in flight school which God’s people may benefit from regarding their own personal faith journey. Check out this short video where I share my thoughts. . . (more…)

It’s summertime, and for some that means a breath of fresh air and a chance to pick-up a book or two.  I recently asked a colleague of mine, Benjamin White who is a part of Circle of Hope to share one of his recent reading list selections with us.  His take on Karl Barth’s sermon collection, Deliverance To Captives,  gives it respect, but doesn’t default to just sycophantic praise.  While so many pastors and seminary students are drawn to Church Dogmatics and other Barth works, sometimes the best way to get to know someone is through the experience of sermonic listening (or reading!).  Enjoy Ben’s book review. . .

The title, Deliverance of the Captives, obviously speaks to the state of the audience.  They are literally captives, but Barth recognizes and preaches that we are all captives to our sin and broken humanity.  The nature of his audience at the Prison of Basel serves as a parable for all of us and warrants publication.  The gospel message of deliverance from captivity is just as needed within the prison walls as without.  Barth’s preaching to these men in this particular circumstance serves as a sign to all.  We are called to preach deliverance to the captives so Barth went to the captives and proclaimed a message that goes beyond the realm of physical captivity.  If these men may be freed, so may we all in Christ Jesus our Lord. . . (more…)

Last summer, an almost unnoticeable essay was published on the web. It was a simple and straight-forward essay trying to reframe an issue that has been complexified (is that a word?) beyond comprehension to some. Over the last year, that essay by Frank Viola and Leonard Sweet has taken on a life of its own — and in its latest iteration has been released today in book form: Jesus Manifesto.  I was excited to get an advance copy to read and more so when I had a chance to interview both Frank and Len about the Manifesto and what they claim in the book regarding the state of the Church.  Enjoy!

Q) The essay you both wrote last year – A Jesus Manifesto for the 21st Century, which was the precursor to your new book Jesus Manifesto (Thomas Nelson) – seems to be a holistic critique against how Christianity is “being done” today, at least in North America. Can you share a little about how this project should be received with respect to this and is your book about the same thing?

A) Frank: I think it was more of a clarion call pointing out that Jesus Christ has been dethroned and devalued in many quarters of the Christian faith, being replaced by so many other things. Jesus has often been boiled down to a footnote or a stamp of approval to some other issue or topic. Our book expands what was in the original essay and seeks to re-present Christ in a fresh and powerful way, showing why He is worthy of having the preeminence in all things. Its aim is to wipe everything else off the table and glorify Jesus beyond the stratosphere. One of the endorsers of the book wrote the following, which I think answers your question pretty well:

“Gandhi once said, ‘Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.’ Maybe if we actually knew Christ, we would reflect Him more. Sweet and Viola’s Jesus Manifesto is the quintessential re-introduction.”

Len: One of the most important developmental tasks of every human being is to find their voice, and to speak out of their unique voice. One of the worst things that can happen to each of us is to lose our voice, or to speak out of other voices than our own. Frank and I are saying that the true voice of the church is Christ, and when other voices take over, the church is rendered voiceless.

I am a big fan of Wendell Berry’s writings. I think this farmer/poet/essayist is USAmerica’s greatest living poet. What makes Wendell Berry so special is that his writings are simply the land given voice. The Bible is the Spirit given voice, but the Spirit’s voice is a unique, one-of-a-kind, once-for-all-time voice. It’s not a propositional voice, but a story-telling, poetic voice that carries a unique register and timber and tone: it is the voice of Jesus the Christ. It’s time the church spoke again in its original, true voice.

Q) The subtitle of your book is “Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ” – pointing to an assumption that Christ’s sovereignty has been “lost” or “misplaced.” For me, there seems to be a bit of a difference between seeing the problem as Christ’s Supremacy and Sovereignty being “lost” and one where the is not being acknowledged. Is there difference between the two positions from your point of view?

Over 300 years ago a German pastor wrote a hymn that built around the Name above all names. I love to sing this song, although it’s seldom sung anymore, because the lyrics are posed in question and answer format. It’s an antiphonal song that comes across as a confession of faith:

Ask ye what great thing I know, that delights and stirs me so? What the high reward I win? Whose the name I glory in?

Jesus Christ, the crucified.

This is that great thing I know; this delights and stirs me so: faith in him who died to save, Him who triumphed o’er the grave:

Jesus Christ, the crucified.

*Gabriel Josipovici, The Book of God, 74

Frank: I think this is merely semantics. We are saying that the supremacy and headship of Christ has been “lost sight of” hence it must be “restored” or “brought back into view,” and more accurately, “restored as a living experience.”
There is a principle in God that He never gives anything, but that He first allows it to be lost. The Lord Jesus said that until you lose something, you can’t really have it. This appears to be a divine principle. God gives something first, then allows it to be taken away, that it may be given again. It’s the principle of death and resurrection, and it’s a recurring truth throughout the Scriptures. Ever notice all of those re- terms in the Bible: Restoration (Acts 1:6; 15:17), regeneration, restitution, recreation, rebirth, renewal, resurrection, revive, etc.

Our Lord is a God of restoration.

For this reason, church historians have used the “restoration” motif for a long time. It’s been said that God used the Reformers to restore justification by faith when it was lost sight of. God used the Holiness movement to restore personal holiness when it was lost sight of. God used the Moravians to restore missionary outreach when it was lost sight of. He used the Pentecostals to restore the power of the Spirit when it was lost sight of. Right or wrong, we feel that we are living in a day when the supremacy and headship of Jesus Christ needs to be restored in the life of the church.

Q) A central part of the argument for how we are to re-center our faith is found in the statements, “Knowing Christ is Eternal Life. And knowing him profoundly, deeply, and in reality, as well as experiencing his unsearchable riches, is the chief pursuit of our lives, as it was for the first Christians. God is not so much about fixing things that have gone wrong in our lives as finding us in our brokenness and giving us Christ.” I agree that the Christian religion has dangerously become more about things that really should be subordinate to Christ or on the periphery as a result of knowing Christ. But I wonder if defining the “chief pursuit of our lives” in the way that is being presented and/or seeing God’s purpose as restoring our fallenness still keeps us – humanity – erroneously at the center of the story, and not God. North American Christianity has surely become consumeristic, but your article individually-focused emphasis on Christ seems vulnerable to similar outcomes. Would you be willing to put these claims in the proper context according to the lens you are seeing the issues at hand?

A) Frank: My books Reimagining Church and From Eternity to Here take dead aim at the individualism, independence, and consumerism that seem to be in the drinking water of Christianity today. This is not just a Western problem; it’s quite universal as Western Christianity has spread just about everywhere.

I don’t know what version of the manifesto essay you’ve read, but there’s an entire section on how that the pursuit of Jesus Christ is not an individualistic pursuit. But rather, it’s a corporate journey (see below). We dedicate an entire chapter to this point in our book, Jesus Manifesto. Here is point 9 of the essay:

“Jesus Christ cannot be separated from his church. While Jesus is distinct from his Bride, he is not separate from her. She is in fact his very own Body in the earth. God has chosen to vest all of power, authority, and life in the living Christ. And God in Christ is only known fully in and through his church. (As Paul said, “The manifold wisdom of God – which is Christ – is known through the ekklesia.”) The Christian life, therefore, is not an individual pursuit. It’s a corporate journey. Knowing Christ and making him known is not an individual prospect. Those who insist on flying life solo will be brought to earth, with a crash. Thus Christ and his church are intimately joined and connected. What God has joined together, let no person put asunder.”

Len: The relationship of the WE and the ME is one of the most important subjects we can talk about. Like Frank, I have addressed this in a couple of books before: The Three Hardest Words to Get Right, 11 Indispensable Relationships You Can’t Live Without, and Jesus Drives Me Crazy. Part of that unique “voice” of Jesus I referenced earlier is that Jesus always is heard in surround sound (I used to say “stereo”). If you only hear one thing, it’s likely not to be Jesus (Alpha/Omega, Lamb/Lion, Prince of Peace/Sword of Truth, etc.). It’s like the body of Christ has two lungs, and two brains (left/right), and . . . The Gutenberg world majored in the ME, the I, the left-brain, partly because the book is the most anti-social technology ever invented by the human imagination. The Google word is WE or right-brain dominant. We need both brains. God gave us two brains for a reason.

Q) Separate from the actual content of your essay, it is curious that both of you as authors who embrace technology and the Internet, chose to pursue a printed book which is a commercially sold medium opposed to releasing a free, viral-friendly electronic document such as an Seth Godin idea virus. If this Manifesto is a prophetic wake up call for the Christian community at large, doesn’t this go against the movement’s objectives or potential toward mass exposure and adoption to require the purchase of a book?

A) Len: Media is not a zero sum game. How’s your “paperless office” doing? Almost every website seems to be selling books, a bookstore (even churches are bookstores through their websites, thanks partly to Amazon.com’s franchise program as well). Books will flourish even in this iPad, Kindle future, but our experiences of books and the books we keep will change. When my original publisher refused to break up the text with inserted quotes and use background images on some pages, I pulled one of my first books, Quantum Spirituality, and set up my own publishing company (Whaleprints). I also do a weekly podcast called Napkin Scribbles, am one of the “Twitter Elite,” have a top-ranked Facebook site, post a sermon a week on sermons.com—there’s always a Sunday coming for me—and am writing more books than ever before. By the way, Frank and I “posted” the Jesus Manifesto first on the web—partly inspired by the German word that is used to describe what Luther did with his 95 Theses: not “nailed” or “mailed” but “posted” on the door of Wittenberg’s Castle Church in 1517.

Frank: Many years ago I started self-publishing my books. For the first two years, I gave them away free of charge. When the time came that I could no longer afford to pay for them (it costs a pretty penny to print a book), we started to sell them to cover our expenses. Believe it or not, once we began to sell the books, a lot more people were interested in reading them.

Right now on my website, most of my writings are available free of charge. This includes two free eBooks at the moment. One would think that an electronic book that’s free of charge would disseminate more widely than a book sold by a publisher. The truth is, it doesn’t. Not even close. For whatever reasons, published books are read by far more people than free eBooks or give away copies. (That’s been my experience anyway, and we’ve been tracking it for years.) I don’t understand why, but it just is. I wrote about this recently on my blog in fact. And that’s why I’ve agreed to have my books published.

Thomas Nelson is the largest Christian publisher in the world right now. And they are getting behind the book in a huge way. So right or wrong, we felt it was best to go with them to get the full message of the Jesus Manifesto to as many people as possible. They have allowed us to make available free sample chapters and I suspect the same will be true for the audio version.

Q) Finally, what is the best case scenario if this call is heard properly by the Christian community? What does the hope that the both of you have after writing this book actually look like?

A) Frank: Calvin Miller (author of The Singer and many other works) wrote this just after he read the book:
Jesus Manifesto is the most powerful work on Christ I have read in recent years. The Christ of the Empty Tomb is back among us. Sweet and Viola have beckoned us to return back to Olivet and renew our souls. I was hushed by its welcome authority. I found a lump in my throat as I read through page after page of Biblical witness to the one and only, incomparable Christ in whom alone is our Salvation. You must read this book. All of us must, and then we must believe in this book, rise and advance on our culture with the truth we have lately backed away from in our faulty attempt to play fair at the cost of our God-given mission.

My hope is that this same sort of response will become so widespread that we will all drop the religious “stuff” we are chasing and fall down on our faces in the presence of the greatness of Jesus Christ, making Him central and supreme in our lives, our ministries, and our churches. In a word, my hope is that Paul’s statement in Colossians 1 will become a living, breathing reality instead of black letters on a page – “that He might have the first place in everything.” It’s one thing to parrot that sentence; it’s another to be so captured by Jesus that it becomes our biography. But this will never happen unless our eyes are opened to see His greatness. And with the Holy Spirit as our help, that’s what we are seeking to do with our book.

Len: What can I say but “Amen” to Frank.

Kenny: Thank you both for taking the time out to share some of your thoughts behind Jesus Manifesto.  I’m looking forward to seeing the conversations that will undoubtedly emerge from the book release!

–
Jesus Manifesto: Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ (Thomas Nelson) releases Tuesday, June 1st and will be available on discount from Amazon.com that day.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as a review copy. I was not required to write a positive review. Some of the links in the post above may be “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

So many people view church as strict, boring, hard, perfectionist, etc.

Sometimes the best tactic for effective ministry is a smile and learning (yes, learning!) how to laugh.

Are you enjoying what you’re doing?  Are you enjoying the time you spend with others?

Church can be fun.

Church should be fun.

Church is fun — if you let it be.

One of my long time axioms is: Take your work seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously!

QUESTION: When was the last time you have a serious bout of laughter in church or while doing a ministry activity with others?

[I don't know about you, but at about 1:00 min and 2:10 into the video are some really "different" approaches to laughing I've never heard of before!]

Are you a liar?

NO!  Of course not…not at least to others!

But what about to yourself?   According to Dave Ramsey, most people are being dishonest. . . with themselves — about money and finances.

Financial honesty is something that many people — including Christians — need to face up to.   The good news is that the transformation to a life of integrity regarding money is something that can be learned. 10% knowledge, 90% behavior!

This past year, I had the chance to experience the Dave Ramsey in-your-face-no-holds-barred approach to bringing financial peace back into the picture for upright Christian living.  I led about 50 people through his 3-month Financial Peace University program locally.  For anyone that is struggling financially, hiding from their own debt, or just plainly confused about how to manage their finances, Dave Ramsey’s message is pretty solid.  After going through it all, it really was amazing to see that the life changes are real and for some, completely transformational.

The key to Ramsey’s teaching is a very concrete simplified system - that doesn’t assume you are debt free.  It is very practical and fully of direct commands for participants to do or not do.  Follow the formula, and you will become debt free. Seriously.

One of the tools I wish I had available when teaching the Ramsey system would have been a big fat compilation of FAQ’s regarding the various topics covered.

Voila.  It exists!  And this year, an updated version of the same title book has been released.  Dave Ramsey’s The Money Answer Book offers quick 1-page answers to the most common questions he gets from  participants and followers on his TV, Radio and FPU programs.

It is organized into the various categories Dave Ramsey focuses on in his overall teaching, including budget planning, saving for retirement or student tuition, or personal buying matters — even building wealth and charitable giving.  Each section has dozens of specific questions that are answered in a simple, succinct manner.

You won’t get the full picture reading this book cover to cover, but you will gain a better understanding of his view of personal finance management.  It’s an easy read because you can pick up the book and start at any chapter, any question.

Anyone that has been exposed to Ramsey’s mantras, whether in person at an FPU event, or through his various multimedia offerings, will immediately like this book.  It is easy to read and easy to understand.

If you are currently going through Ramsey’s envelope system or any other part of his money model, or need a quick refresher as a form of encouragement, I recommend The Money Answer Book for you.

QUESTION: Do you believe the Church should be teaching people how to manage their money?

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as a review copy. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

Raymond Hundley is a a PH.D, former youth pastor, seminary professor, missionary and more.  His bio lists Asbury Theological Seminary and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

Hundley has written Will The World End in 2012 published by Thomas Nelson Publishers.  It’s a quick read at 154 pages, plus supplemental content like a study guide for groups reading this book together.  So when someone with these credentials and puts out a book about the coming Rapture in 2012, it peaks your attention.

At least it did mine.

The 2012 book turned out not what I expected it to be. . .

(more…)

Just got my hands on the world’s latest Bible translation of the New Testament: The Voice from Thomas Nelson Publishers - in joint production with the Ecclesia Bible Society, headed by Chris Seay.  For the academics and Bible nerds out there, be warned, you’re in for a ride.

That’s because The Voice is more of a retelling of the Bible for the new generation than a new academic translation of the text.   After the first time you sit down with the Voice Bible, you’ll notice some really distinctive devices that are used:

• screenplay formatting so that you know who’s talking and with what type of tone, attitude or force of message
• color-highlighted text to help readers follow along with what’s going on in the passage
  
• devotional commentary intentionally using modern day language and concepts
  
• explanatory book introductions and notes within chapters gives context and details normally found in footnotes - again put in plain English

The “translation committee” drew from traditional academic scholars, pastors, writers, musicians, poets, and other artists.  The collaborator list includes heavyweights such as Brian McLaren and Leonard Sweet.  They have the standard ivy tower theologians on the list too so that critics can be satiated, or at least rebuffed.  Because of this unusual cast of characters, the final product captures your attention from the first words you read aloud (which by the way is also one of the assumptions in the writing - that it will be read aloud in public settings similar to the oral tradition of the text) whether in public worship, in more intimate bible study groups, or even when you are reading it by yourself.

But sometimes it’s better to see it than hear it.  Here’s an example of just how differently The Voice audaciously retells the story:

THE VOICE TRANSLATION : John 3:16-17

¹⁶ For God expressed His love for the world in this way: He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not face everlasting destruction, but will have everlasting life. ¹⁷ Here’s the point. God didn’t send His Son into the world to judge it; instead, He is here to rescue a world headed toward certain destruction.

THE NRSV TRANSLATION : John 3:16-17

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

See the difference? Personally, I found this translation refreshing.  While the publisher claims it is written so that it can easily be read aloud, I really like how The Voice is attentive to the reading experience. I did not find myself re-reading parts of a chapter over and over as I do sometimes with other translations.

The Voice Bible which Thomas Nelson sent to me as a review copy was a paperback with heavy off-white pages.  It is well laid out visually.  Even though it has screen play foratting, etc, it reads really well – not one verse at a time for reference, but read — as in sit down and read the book just as if it any of your other narrative books in your library.  And unlike the NIV, this translation is pretty accessible in the fact that it is available for 8 bucks on Amazon right now. (Supposedly all profits also go to missions-based activities/ministries too).

If you like The Voice NT, they are working on the OT translation as we speak.  In fact, you can get the [NT + Psalms + Proverbs] during the summer of 2010 (pre-orders already being taken).

Is this a replacement for your NRSV, ESV or RSV Bible?  Probably not just yet.  But is it a dynamic voice you should add to your casual Bible study praxis or study group discussions? Definitely YES.

QUESTION: What translation of the Bible do you own or carry with you?

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as a review copy. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

I have no idea who is behind this product I came across on Amazon today, but IMHO, their product marketing guys need a little help.

Christian themed book, music and other products are big business these days. . .

Christian themed toys are a big business these days. . .

But for some reason, I just didn’t think I would ever encounter this action figure, at least not in this manifestation of it:

There’s two things that just struck me when I first saw this:

1. Why is there a “DELUXE” version of Jesus?  What is a plain old Jesus then?
2. How do you discount Jesus…by 7%?

What would kids do with Jesus Deluxe anyway? The fish and loaves of bread are a good idea, but without the “after” what good are they to tell stories or really portray Jesus’ works?

This is either blasphemy or a brilliant way of reaching out to kids in a very contextual manner.  But which one is it?

Please leave a comment below and say your $0.02.

Tonight I teleported over to the 1st Presbyterian Church of Second Life and joined a prayer gathering in the virtual world.

I’ve done church online, video chats, tokbox multi-user web conf prayer meetings, I’ve even been to LifeChurch.tv in Second Life before.

But this Second Life virtual reality prayer meeting was a first for me today.

10 people stopped by this evening as we gathered in a taize-style prayer mini-service in a circle of comfy (looking at least) floor cushions.

Here’s my first thoughts as I left the meeting tonight.

The technology seems to still get in the way of the experience.   Aside from voice chat not working for some members tonight, the learning curve for navigation, gestures,  audio-visual control, group chat, messaging, etc is all a challenge for new comers.

But if a church is to continuously attract new visitors, even in a virtual one, getting over the technical hurdles is one reality that needs to be addressed.  Of course, if you are more versed (spend more time) in this virtual reality environment, it would become infinitely more transparent. Perhaps ministry volunteers are needed to monitor and guide new visitors through the experience just as in off-line churches.  Perhaps more training can be offered via short videos or other methods on church websites, available before entering Second Life.

I realized that viritual church and church online are two completely separate things.  With church online such as www.lifechurch.tv or www.liquidchurch.com, the technology is basically transparent for most.  You are not bogged down continuously being reminded of the technology interface you are using to connect with others.  To give SL credit, I *was* handed a “newbie card” during the experience, which had some help notes to get me started on Second Life.  But most of it would be more useful only sif I had a sherpa guide next to me helping to decipher and lead me through it all.

The human connections are still real though.  Some of the concerns shared and emotions showed up big time.  One can’t help be frustrated that you want to be ever more present - be virtually there if you could.  (sorry, couldn’t resist!)

Bottom line is: Virtual church on Second Life still has a way to go before it is ready for mainstream exposure.

But in the meantime, digital explorers have found a place to roll up their sleeves and beat down a path for us for when we (and the technology) catches-up.

As technology advances the Church continues to evolve with it. There is a small but growing contingency setting out to define the frontier for the Church in the virtual world. Church online has moved beyond live online interactive broadcast worship. It now includes full church communities within Second Life and other similar virtual world platforms. I was able to get Neal Locke a current scholar completing his graduate work at Princeton Theological Seminary to help weigh in on the legitimacy of virtual world churches with respect to those with claims to the Reformed tradition of the Church. His guest post below is just a tip of the iceberg, and hopefully will open some eyes and spark some new creative thoughts for church leaders of the future.

Projections by researchers in the technology industry indicate that 80% of active Internet users and Fortune 500 companies will be engaged in some sort of virtual reality platform within two years.[1] Analysis of current participation shows that well over 100 million people already are.[2]

As people continue to migrate into these virtual worlds, they bring their institutions with them—in the prominent virtual reality world of Second Life, for example, there are already presences maintained by major universities, corporations, government agencies—and churches.  The legitimacy of churches that function entirely in online virtual worlds has been the subject of much debate in the past year, and this will no doubt continue for some time. Reformed churches, however, are confessional, and thus guided by our our confessions. This seems an appropriate place to begin when exploring the issue of churches in virtual reality: How do the confessions define church? What do they have to say about presence and worship that transcends presence? How do they speak to the church in the midst of cultural, technological, and social upheaval? The reformers who wrote the confessions—even those in the last century—likely did not anticipate the particular reason for which these questions are now being raised, and yet their work displays a remarkable understanding of human nature, society, and theology. In this way they offer both guidance and example for those who seek to be the church in the virtual world.

To begin to explore these questions, I believe we need to take a look at different ways in which the Confessions describe or speak about the church, especially those ways that highlight a dualistic tension between two seeming extremes. This will be helpful in raising a wide variety of ways in which the Reformed heritage intersects and intertwines with issues surrounding churches in virtual reality. In addition, the classic Reformed “Marks of the Church” can be used to see how online churches measure up.  As the church in a virtual reality is further defined , a look at other distinguishing “marks” of the church hinted at, but not prominent in the Confessions can be read with an eye toward those that seem to hold particular promise for fresh expression in online churches.

For churches in virtual worlds, there are still many challenges, both theological and practical.  But the weight and thrust of the Reformed Confessions does not seem to condemn participation in them, nor does it seem to deny their legitimacy. In fact, the bold spirit of innovation in which many of the Confessions were written seems an argument in favor of new and experimental types of churches.

And yet, the Confessions do caution and admonish, striking a careful balance between a Roman church that refuses to be reformed, and Anabaptist churches who have gone too far. Perhaps this is the via media that Reformed churches in virtual worlds ought to seek out—not hanging back, but neither striking out empty-handed. Let them take the cherished Confessions along, freshly elevating neglected sections from newly digitized pages, but still finding familiar ways to proclaim the Word, administer the sacraments, and exercise discipline.

They will be a pixelated people, dispersed yet gathered, and visibly set apart by the God whose grace fills and transcends all of creation (including technology) to reach the elect in every time and place.

[footnotes]

1 Gartner Research, “Gartner Says 80 Percent of Active Internet Users Will Have A “Second Life” in the Virtual World by the End of 2011”; available from http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=503861; Internet; accessed 20 January  2010.

2 Kzero Worldswide, “Looking across the metaverses. Total registered accounts.”; available from http://www.kzero.co.uk/blog/?p=1832; Internet; accessed 20 January 2010.