Big Promises From Wineskins

New Wineskins, a terrific and smart e-mag, is making some promises for the upcoming issue, promised on Friday.

This is important for the people of the Restoration Movement and Churches of Christ, but more importantly, it is important for people who do not know Christ or all they know about Jesus are a bunch of lies from a disconnected collection of self-righteous grumps.

This week's release of the articles promised from New Wineskins are on Christian unity. I have the feeling that they are going to be much more inclusive and open than some of the other stuff that has been pumped out of this fellowship recently.

This is important because it marks, with no shame and no hesitation, the redirectioning of this movement. I do not believe that this is overstated. There have been hints and glimpses of this kind of thing here and there for a couple decades, but this issue of New Wineskins is going to be remebered as the time when the Church of Christ began looking outside itself.

This is important for pre-christians and non-believers because it will mark, small as it is, a change from endless church disunity, division, and religious strife to a more redemptive and reconciling group of people - something that they might actually want to be a part of. When the church looks like Jesus, people love it. When the church looks like anything else it is hidieous and is easy to avoid.

Keep with this is issue of New Wineskins coming out Friday the 13th (oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about) and you will notice that this isn't your grandmother's Church of Christ.