Don’t forget that there is another Advent Synchroblog next week. Please begin thinking now about what you want to write for it! These Synchroblogs are great ways for people to discover your blog.

Here is the description of what to write on:

Christmas Day has come and gone, even the after Christmas sales far more exciting for some than the birth of Christ, are behind us. But did any of us really get what we expected? This long anticipated season celebrating the birth of Christ our Saviour, often comes with unexpected consequences. The gifts never quite meet everyone’s expectations and leave behind mountains of wrapping paper and ribbon that will add yet more indestructible rubbish to the landfills. And Jesus doesn’t always give us what we expect either. We welcome him as a cute little baby but if we continue to journey with him, we soon realize that he wants to turn our world upside down. A child born in a stable is much easier to cope with than a revolutionary leader. This month’s synchroblog is centered around the unexpected consequences of our journey with Jesus. Where has it led us that we never anticipated? In what ways has it really turned our world upside down?

Coming down from Christmas always leaves us in a little bit of a fugue state. Let us know your thoughts and perspectives on this with links to your blog in the comment section at the Synchroblog blog. Please get them in by 7 pm (EST) on Tuesday, December 27, 2011.

As always, the breadth and depth of perspective here will be one more gift for all of us to open.

I plan on participating again. How about you?

Here are some of the best blog posts and blog comments I read this week:

Great Blog Posts

• Have you been hurt by the church? Kathy Escobar is starting an online class called “Hope for the Wounded: Helping Those Hurt by the Church.” I encourage you to participate, if you can.
• Valdez from a new blog called “Faith in the Postmodern World” wrote a great article summarize the Emergent/ Emerging/ Missional/ Organic church that has been developing over the past twenty years or so. If you are wondering about these movements, or need a refresher, go check out his post.
• Brad Brisco from the Missional Church Network wrote a great post called “Meeting the Neighbahs.” If you need ideas for loving and serving your community, reading that post is a great place to start, and then head over to Sam’s series on Loving Your Neighbors for a more in-Depth look.
• Eric Carpenter from A Pilgrim’s Progress asked some great questions about how big of a church is too big? What do you think? Go on over and read his post, and weigh in on the conversation.
• I was interested to read what Alan Knox wrote this week about speaking in tongues, since I knew that I would be posting on it earlier today. Alan has some great input on the subject, pointing out that when we are “gathered with the church (i.e., other Christians) [we should] always and only do and say things that will benefit the group.” Right on, Alan! (As always)

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