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se7en
Heading out to Shreveport/Bossier today for a few days just to get away from town. Thought I might have to save this post for later this evening and hotel WiFi, but I’ve been an insomniac the past several days and last night was no different. Went to bed at 1:30 AM and woke up at 7:00 AM, so here goes. Another week has passed and it’s time for me to share my favorite blog posts from the past seven days.
Ray Ortlund (lead pastor, Immanuel Church in Nashville, TN) shares his thoughts on why Church Should Feel Good and Men With a Whole Heart.
Steven Furtick (lead pastor, Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC) shares a few Bonus Tracks from last weekend’s services.
“For us, our future isn’t really our future. Our future is our perceived future. An imagined future. A possibility. For God, the future isn’t really the future either. But that’s because He is not in time so the future is right now. Present. Happening.” – Steven Furtick on The Present Future.
Andy Stanley (lead pastor, North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, GA) makes his debut at The Resurgence with In the Wake of Leadership.
“When pastors and church leaders read Acts 2:42-46, they get nostalgic for something they never had. The mistake we make is thinking we can recreate the early church by pursuing the things they did.” The Early Church Killed Jesus.
Ever read a book that, in some passages makes you want to throw it across the room, and in others convicts you to your core? Pete Wilson (lead pastor, Cross Point Community Church in Nashville, TN) discusses that in This Book Ticks Me Off.
“When is the last time church leaders re-imagined the fundamental part of their “business”?” Tim Stevens asks what would happen if we started Re-imagining Church.
Along the same vein, Tony Morgan discusses 5 Attributes of A Church In Decline and Frank Turk discusses big churches and BIG CHURCH in 9 Minutes With Frank Turk.
How to have a spiritually competent conversation…… or at least the impression of it.
Tullian Tchividjian (lead pastor, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, FL) on The Ongoing Need for the Gospel.
Is there ever a time man can judge another man? What about being critical of Christian authors, filmmakers, songwriters, etc.? Stephen McGarvey discusses this topic in Why So Critical?
Donald Miller’s dog Lucy is back with three more posts; on on sleep, one on learning right from wrong and one on having a body.
Community Outreach
Mad4Christ (a community outreach group founded by my friend John Williams) is organizing a Back2School outreach, in the Lincoln Elementary school zone, to help families in need. They’re accepting school supplies and financial donations. John needs all supplies and donations no later than August 4. Anyways, to find out more and contribute, click here.
se7en
Perry Noble with Three Convictions About Children’s Ministry. This is one area that I believe most churches don’t stress enough.
One of the Worst Verses In the Bible. It’s amazing what a little context can do for scripture.
Do you REALLY want people to be honest, authentic and real? Matthew Paul Turner with Nothing But the Truth… So Help Me Blog.
“Doubt is God’s way of tearing down the private fantasy we have constructed about him—where what we think about God is without further need of reflection, no longer open to growth. Doubt does not mean that God is “dying” for us. Doubt signals that we are beginning to die to ourselves, and that can be very painful—dying usually is.” – from The Benefit of Doubt
HT: William Guice
“None of your achievements are so big that they can’t be torn down in an instant by a lapse in judgment.” – Steven Furtick with It’s Coming Back
Speaking of lapses in judgment, here’s Paul Steinbrueck with 7 Leadership Lessons Learned from Cleveland Cavaliers Owner Dan Gilbert’s Embarrassing Letter About LeBron James.
Has the Church made an idol of marriage?
Pastor Artie Davis wrote, “I was reading a business blog the other day, called 15-signs your business sucks! As I read it, it became apparent these signs apply to the church. I have no intention of equalizing the church with any type of business. But rather passionate about finding another missing piece to help my fellow gladiators who are fighting for the Kingdom and serious about making an eternal impact. So it is in that spirit I ask you this question, does your church have any of these signs?” - Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of Artie’s post.
“Being wounded is far better than never experiencing life with people.” – Tyler Braun on being Wounded.
Bible Quotation FAIL. This was just too funny – assuming, of course, that it’s real.
What We Can Learn From Michael Jackson
Tim Smith with Practical Ideas for Family Worship. Some pretty good stuff here.
Donald Miller’s lab Lucy is filling in for him at his blog for the next few days and I must say, her first post is pretty deep.
If I Don’t Become A Christian, Can We Still Be Friends?
Thoughts on Revival from my good friend John.
Progress?
I’ve tried to avoid talking about the oil spill because too many people want to make it a political issue (especially with the cap and trade bill still making waves), and I hate talking politics because they’re so divisive and I’ve realized most aren’t willing to actually listen to those with differing opinions.
But I’ve had a few conversations with some friends and the oil spill inevitably comes up.
So we started brainstorming, and this may sound overly simple, but here goes.
- The obvious first choice is for each of us to do our part. I’m not talking about turning into tree huggers or any other extremes, but simple things that we’ve all heard about. Energy-efficient appliances, fuel-efficient vehicles, stuff like that.
- I don’t know if this is an EPA thing, or what, but quit allowing corporations to sell or trade emission limits. I’m sick of hearing company X talk about how green they are when everyone knows they sold off emissions to company Y. You’re not making things better, you’re just passing the buck.
- The government should make it more difficult for American companies and retailers to buy products and supplies from foreign companies that don’t meet our environmental guidelines. We’re the largest consumer in the world, why aren’t we using that to our advantage? Tariffs, fines, whatever – if they want American business, they’ll meet American standards.
- Eliminate our dependence on foreign oil. Even the most liberal of pundits estimate that we’ve got nearly fifty years worth of oil in Alaska – that’s enough time to get my next point working.
- Make renewable alternative energy sources THE energy sources. I’ve heard it a dozen times in the last week; “Alternative energy is just that – alternative.” Well, as long as we keep treating it that way, nothing will change. Progress takes time. When the Wright brothers flew for the first time, I doubt they envisioned the airline industry carrying hundreds of passengers around the world. Yet, merely twenty years after their first flight there were nearly thirty airlines around the world. If energy companies and automobile manufacturers and farm equipment manufacturers and etc. really start pushing forward in designing and implementing renewable and/or sustainable alternatives to the current energy models, who knows where we’d be in twenty years?
Those are just a few ideas my friends and I came up with, and like I said, they are pretty simple. Maybe they’re too simple to actually work…… but then again, maybe not.
Jefferson, the Bible and Independence Day
I saw the following quote on a church sign today:
The Bible is the foundation of liberty.
Not bad, assuming you’re a Christian.
Only one problem – the quote was attributed to Thomas Jefferson.
You know, our third president.
Now, I believe Jefferson was one of the greatest presidents in U.S. history, and there are many good quotes attributed to him; but considering he was a deist and even removed portions of the Bible with which he did not agree, how am I supposed to take the above quote seriously?
Oh, wait, that type of thinking screws up the whole God and country sermon they were planning, doesn’t it?
Seriously – if that’s the direction you’re wanting to go, there’s better quotes to use.
se7en
Be Careful What You Worship On the Fourth of July
HT: Tyler Braun
“Great sermons will get you pats on the back. Savvy leadership skills will win you admiration from your colleagues. Hard work will catch peoples eyes as you separate from the pack. But if you don’t love you’re nothing more than a noisy gong, or a clanging cymbal. If you don’t love the people God has placed in your life nothing else really matters.” – Pete Wilson on Finishing Well
“Without obstacles, nothing grows.” Blaine Hogan on The Gift of Obstacles
“What most Christians can’t do is have transparent, authentic relationships with non-Christians.”
Should Christians Be Concerned for the Environment?
“For a long time now, I’ve been convinced that the way most Christians think about redemption is influenced more by ancient Greek philosophy than by the Bible. We think of ultimate redemption as being redemption from the body, not of the body; redemption from the world, not of the world; redemption from the material, not of the material. This, however, goes against what the Bible clearly teaches about redemption.” – Tullian Tchividjian on Making All Things New
8 Ways to Spot a Manipulating Leader
Spiritual Pride Smells of Hell
You’ve Got Vision… Big Deal!, and a bit of a follow-up.
se7en
Many of us spend our lives waiting for opportunity to come knocking at our front door. But Proverbs 18:16 says “A man’s gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.”
Have you ever wondered why the Bible seems to be guilty of double-talk when speaking of “the world”? John 3:16 tells us God loves “the world” and Jesus, in Mark 16:15 commands his disciples to “go into all the world”, yet 1 John 2:15‑17 tells us not to love the world, James, in James 4:4, tells us that “a friend of the world” is “an enemy of God” and Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:17 to be separate from the world and to “go out from” unbelievers. So, what do we do? Well, it all depends on which sense of the word “world” you mean. Tullian Tchividjian gives a great explanation of these scriptures and the complexities of the original language in which they were written, in this post.
You Can’t Build A Reputation On What You Are Going To Do
Something we can all benefit from – the art of apologizing well.
Before Apple sold 2 million iPads in just 2 months, they first had to fail at the Newton. Instead of ignoring our failures, maybe we should learn from them. Mike Foster tackles that in a post for Catalyst, Snuggle Up With Failure.
What is a joyful mind?
I’ve touched on this issue before, but over 90% of Americans claim to believe in God, yet less than half of that number are part of a church community. Perry Noble addresses this issue in a two-part post, It’s Not the Product, It’s the Service (Part 1) and
(Part 2)
In a similar post to Perry’s, Jarrett Stevens talks about a recent hospital visit and that the church could learn from it.
It’s one thing to worship with passion and excellence when the room is full and all eyes are on us. The real test of worship comes when your auditorium is empty and the only people remaining are the staff who now have no responsibilities but to stand before God and still give Him everything they’ve got. – Steven Furtick on The Real Test of Worship
So what makes a city manly? Apparently salty snacks and professional sports.
