Tag Archives: missional

Aug 25 2012

this went thru my mind

 

Church decline: One Observation of Declining Churches by Ron Edmonson

“I’ve worked with a number of churches in decline. One thing I’ve noticed that is fairly consistent among declining churches is what they do once they realize they are in decline. … They dig their heels into the tradition that got them where they are today. They go back to what’s comfortable. They resist any changes in what they’ve done before, hoping to avert future decline.”

College: The Rising Cost of Higher Education [infographic]

“The College Board forecasts that in 15 years, the cost of a four-year college education at a private college will top $400,000 (at the current rate of increases).”

Deacons & deaconesses: #359 – Deacons, Ministers, or …? by Patrick Mead [required reading]

“Rather than use made up words like ‘deacon’ and made up words formed from made up words (!) like ‘deaconesses’ it would seem to make more sense to use the Biblical concept and call both of them ‘ministers’ or ‘servants.’”

Doubt: What Christians Can Learn From A Bible-Belt Pastor Who Became An Atheist Leader

“The problem of personal evil and suffering was a huge factor in his de-conversion.”

Food: 40% of U.S. Food Wasted, Report Says

“The report points out waste in all areas of the U.S. food supply chain, from field to plate, from farms to warehouses, from buffets to school cafeterias.”

Learning: Ministry Inside.90 by Jim Martin

“The following are five suggestions for learning from ‘masters.’”

Productivity: What Successful People Do With The First Hour Of Their Work Day

“…  many successful people schedule themselves a kind of grown-up home room every day. You should too. The first hour of the workday goes a bit differently …”

Sharing faith: Ten Questions to Diagnose the Evangelistic Health of Your Church by Thom Rainer

“In my work with churches across America, I often ask a series of questions that help me assist the church to become more evangelistically focused. Recently, I took time to write down the questions I ask most often. Look at these ten questions to get at least some hints of the evangelistic health of your own church.”

The Pledge of Allegiance: A Restless Patriotism by Richard Beck [required reading]

“I’m a mess when it comes to the Pledge of Allegiance. Sometimes I say it. Sometimes I don’t. Social context generally determines what I do, with the main criterion being not wanting to embarrass anyone or make anyone feel uncomfortable. I also struggle with not saying the Pledge as I don’t want to be taken as being ungrateful or dismissive of those who have made sacrifices for everything I enjoy in America. So I’m trying to walk this line between being socially appropriate, respectful to others (particularly to those who have lost loved ones in war), deeply grateful, and yet holding onto the belief that the Pledge of Allegiance is inherently idolatrous. That’s a tough line to walk and I don’t walk it well or very consistently.”

Jul 25 2012

this went thru my mind

 

Church welcome: I Wish Every Church Said What This Church Says in Their Bulletin by Jon Acuff [required reading]

“We extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, divorced, gay, filthy rich, dirt poor, yo no habla Ingles. We extend a special welcome to those who are crying new-borns, skinny as a rail or could afford to lose a few pounds.

“We welcome you if you can sing like Andrea Bocelli or like our pastor who can’t carry a note in a bucket. You’re welcome here if you’re “just browsing,” just woke up or just got out of jail. We don’t care if you’re more Catholic than the Pope, or haven’t been in church since little Joey’s Baptism.

“We extend a special welcome to those who are over 60 but not grown up yet, and to teenagers who are growing up too fast. We welcome soccer moms, NASCAR dads, starving artists, tree-huggers, latte-sippers, vegetarians, junk-food eaters. We welcome those who are in recovery or still addicted. We welcome you if you’re having problems or you’re down in the dumps or if you don’t like “organized religion,” we’ve been there too.

“If you blew all your offering money at the dog track, you’re welcome here. We offer a special welcome to those who think the earth is flat, work too hard, don’t work, can’t spell, or because grandma is in town and wanted to go to church.

“We welcome those who are inked, pierced or both. We offer a special welcome to those who could use a prayer right now, had religion shoved down your throat as a kid or got lost in traffic and wound up here by mistake. We welcome tourists, seekers and doubters, bleeding hearts … and you!”

Forgiveness: Forgiveness

“Here are two videos on forgiveness that I found helpful. Lewis Smedes and Miroslav Volf …”

Grace & legalism: * Max Lucado Goes Overboard on Grace an interview by Mark Galli [required reading]; * The Attraction to Legalism by Matthew Olson

* “… [let me speak regarding] this tendency we have to fall back into legalism though we have been saved by grace. There are a few reasons for this. First, everything else in the world is based on legalism. If I have to pay money to buy bread, then surely at some point I have to pay for my eternal bread with some type of work. Second, down deep within us, we believe grace is too good to be true, and we feel better if we make some kind of contribution. Third, teachers fear what people will do with grace: ‘If I really teach grace, is that couple in the fourth pew who are living together—are they really going to get out of that relationship and get married?’”

* “Why is legalism so attractive? It is attractive because it feeds the sinful flesh. … The problem is that we can’t see it. … What makes our own legalism hard to see is that on the surface we can be doing a lot of things right.”

Humility: 7 Ways To Put On Humility by Mark Altrogge

“We must put humility on. This doesn’t mean we fake it, but that we begin to do it, even though it takes effort. Putting on humility isn’t easy. After all, it’s not easy to be humble when we’re as great as we are.  But it can be done.”

Internet addiction: * Silicon Valley Says Step Away From the Device by Matt Richtel; * What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Michael Hyatt

* “Stuart Crabb, a director in the executive offices of Facebook, naturally likes to extol the extraordinary benefits of computers and smartphones. But like a growing number of technology leaders, he offers a warning: log off once in a while, and put them down.”

* “On average, Americans stare at some type of computer screen for eight hours a day.”

Lord’s Supper: A Lord’s Supper Home Meal — A Method by John Mark Hicks

“On many different occasions, and some recently, I have been asked about how I conceive or conduct the Lord’s supper as a home meal. … In my small group, several of my classes and other occasions I have led or participated in group meals as the ‘Lord’s supper.’”

Leadership: * 4 Words of Advice for a Newbie Leader by Ron Edmonson; * How I Coach People into True Missional Leadership by Hugh Halter

* “Learn the people first … Go slow to change … Think intentionally in all you do … Pace your leadership for the long-term.”

* “I am giving you four key aspects of a leaders life that must be coached for a true missionally incarnational leader must be:
Deep in Character, Clear in Calling, Culturally Savvy, and Able to Lead Inclusive Community.”

Parenting: If You Are Not Praying for Your Children by Jim Martin

“If you as a parent are not praying for your children, then who is?”

Skype & privacy: Can Skype ‘Wiretap’ Video Calls? by John Sutter

“The video calling service Skype recently made a change to how it routes calls. Yawn, right? But here’s where it get a little juicier … the changes, which push some of the video calling process onto Skype’s own computers instead of onto random machines on the Internet, could help the app spy on users’ calls, presumably at the request of a court or government.”

Texting while driving: Driving While Intexticated [infographic]

“In the 5 seconds you read a text at 55 mph, you travel the length of a football field.”

Violence: * The Myth of Redemptive Violence by Shane Claiborne [required reading]; * Gleanings in Pacifism by J. Daniel Kirk; * Gun Laws, None Dare Call it Time by Sandy Levinson; * Assault Deaths within the United States; * Mark 15:1-20 – The Crowd Chooses Violent Revolution Rather than Jesus by John Mark Hicks [required reading]

* “I had a veteran friend once tell me, ‘The biggest lie I have ever been told is that violence is evil, except in war.’ He went on, ‘My government told me that. My church told me that. My family told me that … I came back from war and told them the truth – ‘Violence is not evil, except in war… Violence is evil – period’.”

* “… Christians must actively work for peace: blessed are the peacemakers. That should typify kingdom people.”

* “The GOP is in bed with the NRA; the Dems learned from Al Gore’s opposition to gun laws, which many Dems supported, that they can’t win elections with that platform. So today no party is willing to re-examine our gun laws.”

* “… it’s well-known that there are strong regional differences in the assault death rate in the U.S. by state and region. Here’s what the patterns look like by state from 1999 to 2009. … As is well known, the South is more violent than the rest of the country, by some distance. … Despite their large differences, all of the U.S. regions have higher average rates of death from assault than any of the 24 OECD countries we looked at previously.”

* “The crowd chose violent revolution rather than the nonviolent revolution of Jesus. … What do we choose?”

Jul 18 2012

this went thru my mind

 

Attitude, martyrdom & violence: Called To Be a Martyr? by K. Rex Butts

“We are all going to physically die one day any ways. The question is: what sort of story will we tell in our life and in our death? Will it be the story of God’s reign in Jesus, who though crucified by his enemies, was raised by God and exalted in victory as the Lord and Messiah? Or will it be a story that says death has not been defeated in Christ and therefore must still be resisted at all cost, even by violence if necessary?”

Children & poverty: Young Child Risk Calculator

“[Use this] Young Child Risk Calculator …  to see the following information for your state: the percentage of young children in a state, within a specified age range, who are experiencing selected risk factors [and] the percentage of young children in a state, within a specified age range, who are experiencing both selected risk factors (such as teen parent, residential mobility) and economic hardship at a specified level (extreme poverty, poverty, low-income).”

Children & violence: Welcoming Children: How Jesus Plans to Stop Violence in the World by Richard Beck

“All of these teachings of Jesus–”welcome children,” “do not cause a little one to stumble,” and “recieve the kingdom like a child”–may be less about Precious Moments and more about addressing the generational darkness within families that produces so much of the violence in our world.”

Evangelism & the unchurched: 10 Reasons We Have Not Reached the Unchurched by Ed Stetzer, parts 1 & 2

“We only reach one person for Christ each year for every 85 church members in the United States.”

Giving: Giving by Bruce Hulme

“Thinking about giving as a spiritual discipline might make us wince a little. …Giving is relational; as soon as it becomes merely functional in our lives, it has moved from mercy to sacrifice. ‘Discipline’ in proper perspective, however, actually frees rather than restricts.”

Identity theft: Warning About Online Fraud as Information Theft Rises

“Fraudsters traded 12 million pieces of personal information online between January and April this year … The figure represents a threefold increase on 2010.”

Immigration: Looking at Some Immigration Myths by Timothy Archer

“Christians have no excuses for any lack of hospitality toward immigrants. Let the politicians fight this one out.”

Journaling: The 7 Benefits of Keeping a Daily Journal by Michael Hyatt

“The main thing is I am writing for myself rather than an audience. I have found this tremendously liberating and deeply satisfying.”

Ministry & parenting: How Can a Pastor Help His Children Appreciate His Work, Not Resent It? by Brian Croft

“Pastors, teach your children how important your work is to God, how essential it is to the care of God’s people, and that it is worth suffering for it.  The question is…do you pastor, believe that, especially when our families suffer from it?”

Ministry & pettiness: On Christian Pettiness by Frank Viola

“I know we’re all different, but I cannot understand – for the life of me – how a Christian can hear a message on Jesus Christ, and when it’s all over, only hear one fleeting word from an illustration. To my mind, this is a case of straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel . . . zeroing in on one insignificant thing and tuning everything else out. It goes along with my previous post that Christians are the most easily offended people on the planet.”

Prayer: How to Pray for Your Pastor by Trevin Wax

“… will you consider praying for your pastor the way I ask my people to pray for me?”

Sleep: You Can’t Do Your Job if You Don’t Sleep by by Tony Schwartz

“… the average American … gets between six and six and a half hours of sleep a night … thirty percent of working Americans … get less than 6 hours. And yet the research suggests that nearly all of us require between 7 and 8 hours of sleep a night to feel fully rested, and only a tiny percentage of us feel rested with less than 7 hours. The costs show up physically, emotionally, and cognitively.”

Small groups: Preventing Heresy in Your Small Group by Sam O’Neal

“Use the magic words. When most people hear the phrase ‘magic words,’ they think of please and thank you. And those certainly are good, useful terms. But for small-group leaders, the real magic lies in the ability to say, ‘I don’t know.’ … the worst thing a group leader can do is attempt to give an answer without really understanding the concepts or doctrines at stake. Sometimes the best thing a group leader can do is say, ‘I don’t know, but I’ll find out.’”

Widowhood: What Took Me By Surprise–Widowhood by Bev Hislop

“What took me by surprise was the power, the all-consuming grip, the sudden shock of an emotion rolling over me, literally rendering me unable to function for a moment or sometimes longer.”

Work: Work is a Battlefield by Ed Cyzewski

“When you know that someone is trying to sabotage your job, negative thoughts and anger are tough to stop.”

Jul 16 2012

this went thru my mind

 

Age of the earth: * The Questions Update: The Age of the Earth by Deborah Haarsma; * How Do We Know the Earth is Old?

* “Thus, the solar system, including the Earth, is about 4,560,000,000 years old.”

Friendship & ministry: Ministry Inside.84 by Jim Martin

“In some churches, a kind of uneasiness exists between ministers and elders. Or, sometimes the uneasiness exists among the ministry staff or within the elder group. In far too many instances, the relationship between these leaders has been reduced to an awkward superficial coexistence. I am not talking about situations where there is open conflict and quarreling. Rather, I am thinking about congregations where the relational investment by leaders into one another’s lives seems to be at a minimum.”

Healthcare: Christians and Healthcare by K. Rex Butts

“… I would like to make a few suggestions about the way Christians engage in the ongoing conversation, should we choose to do so.”

Justice: Speaking Up When It’s Too Late by Timothy Archer

“What would it take to get us to say ‘No’ to wrongs committed against those without power in our society? Or will we do content ourselves to let future generations lament our mistakes?”

Leadership: Four Secrets to Connecting with Old Leaders by Dan Rockwell

“Be a learn-it-all, not a know-it-all.”

Learning: 4 Reasons They Don’t Want to Learn … and 5 Suggestions by Ron Edmonson

“You can’t teach someone who doesn’t want to learn.”

Ministry: * 67 Year Old Parish Priest Gives Advice Gained From More Than 40 Years Of Pastoral Ministry; * My Interview With a 92 Year Old Pastor by Ron Edmonson, parts 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5

Ministry & shepherding: Calm Your Storm by Tim Spivey

“The two most important things any pastor can give their church is to stay close to the Lord Jesus and to seek personal emotional health.”

Note-taking: How to Take Notes [infographic]

Same-sex couples: God Bless You vs. God Blessed You – Blessing Same-Sex Couples by Chris Altrock

“While a committed and monogamous relationship is a good step in the right direction (away from sexual relationships with multiple partners). What the church should unleash unreservedly might be called the ‘God Blessed You’ blessing.”

Spiritual abuse: Spiritual Abuse by Roger Olson

“… spiritual abuse is the control of people by manipulation of their religious needs or sensitivities by means of shame.”

Time: Jesus’ Invitation to the Discipline of “Wasting Time?” by John Huckins

“You have to listen. Drop your agendas and allow the stories of the inhabitants of the neighborhood to inform how you engage and participate. Simply be present.”