Chapter Two

Okay, so the goal of 104 chapters by end of year, although not too lofty, seems a bit unattainable at this point, but alas, here we are, and at the very least we need to finish this book. I have read and now re-read chapter two of the Trellis and the Vine and hope to continue dialogue with you guys over the content and application of this book. In Chapter Two we see the authors presenting a list of what vine growing does. I admit I liked every single one of these. They all seem to focus on having the people be the focus of the ministry, not the ministry itself. As great as it all sounds, this does seem to be more complex than just running programs. But maybe that is the shift they are talking about: if we view ministry as a whole as developing people (this would mean it is not how to get people in or how to fundraise, etc), this seems more natural than the traditional way. Churches I think would be smaller, would have more community and gospel-centeredness, and would weed out those coming in for a show, or at least regularly force a decision upon them.
I like the shift, but think it is hard. The last story of the chapter, going through the scenario of how to "plug" someone in, was excellent and I could re read it everyday. Ministry needs to be more simple and more focused on people growth. The authors now have my ear and I hope to learn much, and not to be disappointed.
Thoughts?

Trellis and The Vine Chapter One

I just finished reading the Trellis and The Vine chapters one and two. It went much more quickly than expected. The first chapter sets the distinction between vine work and trellis work. Vine work is gospel work, or disciple making, trellis works are things that help support the vine: programs, administration, etc. The book thinks the church tends to forget about vine work and just work to maintain trellises. It seeks to remedy this issue in the church, and bring us back to disciple making being at the core. I've never really thought about dividing church work with disciple making, and I suppose it happens, but I tend to wonder right off the bat if we really should pit these two concepts against each other? I guess if we cannot define things, we have trouble seeing if we are following Scripture. I did like the "As you go" in the Great Commission as opposed to the over emphasized "Go!" This states all of us, as we live our lives, need to be disciple making, not just the few who end up "going." The "all of life as worship" model. The questions at the end would be good to discuss as well:
What is the vine for?
How does the vine grow?
How does the vine relate to my church?
What is vine work and what is trellis work, and how can we tell the difference? (the one I hope is answered well in the book)
What part do different people play in growing the vine?
How can we get more people involved in vine work?
What is the right relationship between the trellis and the vine?

Your thoughts?
-Mark

Introduction

Here is the temporary site for a group of gentlemen searching the Scriptures for truth, reading to sharpen ourselves and each other, and trusting the Lord to shape us through this interaction. The goal is to read two chapters of a chosen book per week, and then discussing those chapters each week through a forum setting. Since I do not do computers very well, and starting a blog has been relatively easy, we’ll use this format until one of us can spend the time to make a site for this purpose alone. For now I’ll post the assigned chapters in the title and then write as a post my thoughts on the material. Then the interaction can take place in the comments section. I hope this works. So to read by January 7th, Chapters one and two of The Trellis and The Vine. I’ll post my thoughts sometime between now and January 7th.