11.30.2004

Baptism + Fire - Christianity Today Magazine

God loves you and has a difficult plan for your life....
Suffering is our preparation for ministry in a world of suffering—all manner of suffering: from the trivial irritations of daily life to paralyzing accidents, from family squabbles to church splits, from the ravages of sexual slavery to the countless deaths of innocents at the hands of cruel dictators. This is not a world for shallow people with soft character. It needs tested, toughened disciples who are prepared, like their Lord, to descend into hell to redeem the lost.

Many of the difficulties that God sometimes directs and sometimes permits in our lives are not about us. God's got the whole world in his mind, and he is looking for people who are keeping that world foremost in their minds, as well.

Great article!

Brawl at church

And I thought conflict at my churches was out of control!

Religion News Blog : And on the eighth day, the Lord created spam

This disgusts me!

Doug Giles: Dirty Harry Goes To Church

Can you imagine Dirty Harry Callahan attending a highly effeminized church?

Perhaps a bit overstated but the point is clearly made!

The Jesse Tree: Celebration of Advent

I have never come across this before. It looks like a very meaningful and powerful activity for a family to do at Advent.

2005's Newest Minority - LeadershipJournal.net

Of those born after 1980, 27% claim no religion.

Let that sink in.

LeadershipJournal.net - Rabble Roused

It is the repetition of the complaining that tempts the leader to burnout.

Nice little article on complainers and the role of a pastor.

Toilet cleaning - the fastest way to the human heart

Wow! What a powerful story and an inspiring way to BE the gospel through servant evangelism.

The Moral Majority Coalition

Yikes! This stuff scares me. Jerry especially scares me!

Skip Christmas

Attention getting idea from a creative church.

11.27.2004

I always suspected...





You Are From the Moon



You can vibe with the steady rhythms of the Moon.
You're in touch with your emotions and intuition.
You possess a great, unmatched imagination - and an infinite memory.
Ultra-sensitive, you feel at home anywhere (or with anyone).
A total healer, you light the way in the dark for many.



11.26.2004

Emerging church? What's that? from Maggi Dawn

This is a question and a perspective that I have felt for sometime.

11.25.2004

frontline: is wal-mart good for america? | PBS

Did you see this program on PBS? It was fascinating and overwhelming. I don't know even were to begin on this issue.

11.20.2004

Beef! It's what's for dinner! And in our case after receiving a side of beef breakfast and lunch! Posted by Hello

11.19.2004

Compassion International increasing help for AIDS-infected children

Compassion estimates that more than 20,000 children whom it assists in Africa are HIV-infected and tens of thousands more have a parent or sibling with the disease.

“HIV/AIDS intervention is an ongoing, natural extension of Compassion's mission to provide health-related benefits to all Compassion-assisted children,” Stafford said.

World health experts warn the problem is only growing. There are nearly 11 million AIDS orphans in Africa, and in sub-Saharan Africa, 42 million people are HIV positive. Two and a half million Africans will die this year from disease.

While Compassion has always provided medical help to the 600,000 children in its program, the latest addition calls for the use of antiretroviral drugs -- medicines that can extend the life and quality of life for a child.


Good to see Compassion responding! We sponsor two children through them and it is a great organization!

Pastors.com Article: I left Kenya asking, 'God, what can I do?'

just one of the 700 to die of AIDS, in a single day, in Kenya. That’s 4,900 a week; 21,700 a month; 252,000 a year


Horrifying statistics from Kenya. Read the article to be encouraged to get involved.

Global AIDS Prayer Partnership

Check out the Call to Prayer they are organizing on World Aids Day December 1.

11.09.2004

11.04.2004

Radical Reformission : Reaching out without selling out

Mark Driscoll on his new book Radical Reformission:
Our lives shape, and are shaped by, the culture we live in, and the gospel must be fitted to (not altered for) particular people, times, and circumstances so that evangelism will be effective.
Great quote in a great article. He goes on and defines three tendencies in Christianity; parachurch, liberalism, and fundamentalism. Here's his great formulation for thinking about these tendencies:
Gospel + Culture - Church = Parachurch

Culture + Church - Gospel = Liberalism

Church + Gospel - Culture = Fundamentalism
Great thoughts!

11.03.2004

My hope is built on nothing less...

I am amazed at the amount of despair I am reading on several blogs concerning the re-election of George W. Bush. Is our hope really on the government? Do we really need to rant about conservative Christians voting their moral values?

I am becoming more and more turned off to this whole blogging thing. Especially the reading of blogs part. Don't get me wrong. I have learned much and have been greatly challenged. I hope others find my blog and read it.

But I have often been admonished to spend time reading those books that are classics, that have stood the test of time. How many blog posts will stand the test of time? How many will be still read a year from now let alone 100 years from now? Honestly there are very few classics in the making either on the net or hard copy. C.S. Lewis writes,
It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. If that is too much for you, you should at least read one old one to every three new ones.
I think I need to apply this to blogs as well for the very reasons Lewis gives in the context of the statement above.
Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. Where they are true they will give us truths which we half knew already. Where they are false they will aggravate the error with which we are already dangerously ill. The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can be done only by reading old books.
I am feeling the need for some clean sea breezes! Happy ranting to all you ranters out there...I'm going for a nice long walk on the beach.

11.02.2004

Online Finger Meditation Tool

Give it a try.

Luke 20:27-38

As I study this passage in preparation for this week's sermon, I am reminded of what Dallas Willard said about Jesus in his book The Divine Conspiracy. Willard called Jesus the greatest teacher ever. Here in verse 28, the Sadducees trying to trip up Jesus call him Teacher.

Is this an image of Jesus that I hold? Do I view him or understand him as Teacher?

This led to asking Jesus questions like you would a Teacher. Teacher, is God good? Teacher, is anything certain? Teacher, how can I be a better husband, father, follower?

It is amazing how different it feels to pray like this! To pray to The Teacher, seeking his input, his truth, his wisdom on life's situations.

I liken it to seeking out a mentor, becoming an apprentice. Who would you most like to be an apprentice for? The Donald as in the show The Apprentice? Who we choose as a mentor has much to say about our values.

[Listening to: From The Beginning - Phil Keaggy]

11.01.2004

Why Church Isn't Really a Church

The pain of all this strikes church leaders especially hard. Deep down, not one of us believes the organization we serve is a true expression of authentic Christian community. Each of us thinks, 'THIS is what Jesus gave his life for? No way!'

Good article. This has been my experience as well. The churches I lead clearly aren't true churches as we struggle to form true Christian community.