Here are 10 different designs for APE t-shirts. Please vote in the comments which one you like best. If you like a few of them equally then feel free to put multiple numbers. We will select 1 shirt design to print and sell at first. Obviously if there is some demand then we can print other designs going forward.
So which ones/one do you like best? What would you be proud to wear? Vote now!
#1
By Sarah Carter
[This is part of a series on John The Baptist as Prophet. You can read the other posts here!]
Dear American Church, here are some Resolutions. Love, John the Baptist.
Ok, I’m a little late for the New Year’s resolutions, but since it’s still relatively early in 2014, I think we can still throw a few out there. Instead of new gym routines and eating better, maybe we can collectively agree on some resolutions for the church in the US as a whole. In line with our John the Baptist series, I’m gonna go out on a hermeneutical limb and try to imagine what John’s suggestions for improvement to the American church might sound like. What he would say to us if we, like the crowd, invited him to tell us what to do? (These are my reflections on Luke 3:1-18).
[This post is part of a series called Rooted. Find the other posts here]
By Steve Stuckey
In this season of reflecting upon the incarnation, it strikes me that the response of the shepherds to the coming of the messiah might be helpful to apostle, prophet, and evangelist types. Some of Scriptures greatest pioneers of the faith–Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, and Amos–all got their start as shepherds.
It was another great year at Release The APE with many contributions! I was given the idea to put up the top posts from the year, and here are the top 5 viewed from last year.
As we start the new year, feel free to leave suggestions in the comments about topics you want to read about, writers you want to hear from, and any other ideas. You can also email me if you want to be more private.
By Beau Crosetto
Not all things modeled should be copied.
My wife and I were laughing about this as we watched our daughter who is 20 months trying to pee standing up because our 3 year old is now doing that.
Great idea for Noah, bad idea for Sophie.
But this funny example got us thinking about the church today and many organizations for that matter.
Many of us tend to copy straight across the board what we see modeled.
We are asking “What” are you doing instead of “Why” are you doing that?
This is a guest post by Bex Barton. Her day job is a rockin’ stay-at-home-mum (three crazy kiddos!) She is passionate about writing, tattoos, upcycling (Google it!) and all things artsy! She believes everyone has a role to play in this beautiful, messy life (yes, even *you*!) and seeks to help them find their way back to God.
“Apostle. Prophet. Evangelist. Shepherd. Teacher. Such power in those five simple words. Such passion. Such controversy, as well.
It never ceases to amaze me how the very thing Christ was using to create harmony among us, has been such a tool for dissension.
[This post is part of a series called Rooted. Find the other posts here]
By Steve Stuckey
You will not find his name on the APE mailing list. He would not have stormed out the door last week to be the first one on Beau’s party bus` to El Camino College. He founded no organizations or churches; never wrote a book or gave a speech (though those are excellent things). The mechanics of leadership, a topic that preoccupies many of us, did not exist as a subject in his mind. He was not good with words, a prerequisite for all of us who write and read this blog. In fact, no words are ever attributed to him in the Scriptures. He was probably a humble, quiet man who worked with his hands and lived much of his life in the shadows of his world. When his mission in life was complete, he silently faded into the mist of history without fanfare or applause. He must have been a fellow easy to overlook, even by God. When his young fiancée was found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit, a highly unusual and suspicious story, he was left to find out her situation through second hand sources.
By James Choung
A few weekends ago, I spoke at a conference titled “Renewing Gender Relations.” It was an honor to be speaking alongside other plenary speakers such as Dr. Mimi Haddad, the president of Christians for Biblical Equality, and Rev. Dr. Grace May, president of Women of Wonder.
I spoke on the synergy of men and women in partnership, and was led to offer a history lesson.
My main question came from the subtitle of Rodney Stark’s The Rise of Christianity: how does the obscure, marginal Jesus movement become the dominant religious force in the Western world?
Join us for the Sentralized West Coast 2014 gathering in Costa Mesa January 23rd-25th, 2014. We will be hosting some of the best missional thinkers and practitioners in the world.
Come spend time with and learn from Alan and Deb Hirsch, Michael Frost, Ori Brafman, Neil Cole, Hugh Halter, Jen Hatmaker, Dan Kimball, Noel Castellanos, Lance Ford, Kathy Escobar, Kim Hammond, Lisa Sharon Harper, Caesar Kalinowski, Matt Smay, Leroy Barber, Efrem Smith, Jon Huckins, Sean Gladding, Beau Crosetto, Brad Brisco and others.
We will be offering 14 main sessions, 27 breakout sessions, and significant “living room” times to network and connect with all the presenters. So get registered, mark your calendar and plan on joining us in Costa Mesa in January!