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 Tyler Allred
“You can’t reduce the gospel to a tweet!”
I heard that this weekend. Is that correct? Is the gospel “un-tweetable?” Or maybe I could put it this way: If you only had one sentence, would it really be impossible to express the good news of Jesus? In reaction to a truncated, individualistic gospel, have we stuffed that word with so much, well, ‘stuff’ that it has lost some of its linguistic worth?
Specifically when it comes to this word, “gospel,” the great, good, glorious news of the Christian faith, I believe we absolutely need more clarity, not less.
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).
Often times today in our churches the “road” is closed to apostolic leadership & discussion.
The term apostle can provoke all kinds of reactions. What exactly does this word mean? Are there really present day apostles? If so, what do they do? And why does it matter? These are all really important questions. This blog post series is an attempt to look at these questions and point to biblical answers. I have asked Tim Catchim, a great thinker and writer on the apostolic, to write a blog series for us. Here is post two in the series “Are Apostles For Today?” (read the rest of the posts here)
As we continue this series of posts on apostles, we should probably give a brief description as to the kind of ministry that is associated with an apostle. As the word itself suggests, it is the quintessentially missional ministry as “sentness” is written into it (apo= separate stello = sent.)
We see this definition being played out for us in the book of Acts when Paul and Barnabas join up to go on their first missionary journey (Acts 13:1-8). A quick snap shot of this story will help illustrate what apostolic ministry is about.
As Paul and Barnabas are worshiping with other disciples at Antioch, the Holy Spirit says to them “Now separate to me Barnabas and Paul for the work to which I have called them.”
For Paul and Barnabas, the separation (apo) took place when they left the Antioch church. The sending (stello) aspect of their calling took place when they planted new churches in various places and people groups.
[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.
By Eric Rafferty
The harvest is waiting where no one else is laboring…
The key work of planting ministry is finding the places where it’s harvest time. Often the places of plentiful harvest are the places where no one else is going. This is what Jesus found in a Samaritan town in John 4:
35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.
Sometimes the fields are just ripe for harvest time! Things grow easy. People are eager and ready to respond to Jesus. In the above passage Jesus spends a few minutes chatting with a promiscuous and poorly treated woman at a town well and within a couple days the entire city comes to faith in Jesus. That is harvest time! And Jesus had to point it out to his disciples because they couldn’t believe the spiritual landscape of Samaria would be one of harvest.
As we look back on eight years of campus ministry we recognize that the times we really experienced the reality of harvest was when we were reaching out to people that no one else was going for. Plentiful harvest is waiting in the fields where no one else is laboring.
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.
About 30 Area Directors got together this Fall to talk about apostolic movements.
By Chris Nichols
“Lord, at this time are you going to restore the kingdom of Israel?”
It was sometime during the forty days after Jesus had risen from the dead. Acts says Jesus was giving them convincing proofs he was alive, teaching his disciples about his kingdom, and the coming Holy Spirit.
It’s hard to imagine what the experience was like. In the presence of the back from the dead Jesus, his kingdom was taking on new meaning on daily basis. Yet even in the midst of that life-altering experience, the disciples could not keep themselves from focusing on their own self-interest. They felt compelled to interpret Jesus’ return as being about restoring the nation of Israel. They must have thought, “Finally, our people will get our due. We will take our place as God’s people, above all others in the world.”
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?
I have started writing on another blog that my friend Noah runs. It is called Purpose City. He is a good friend from Grad school and I am glad he has invited me into this project with him. Here is a recent post I did aimed at helping a seeking person.
When was there a time you ran out of something you really needed? Was it money for rent? Perhaps gas while driving over a bridge? Maybe love for a spouse?
We have all run out of important things at the wrong time – right when we need them the most, they escape us.
It brings up feelings of shame, failure, despair and even frustration.