I tried to tell people. Next time follow my lead. Just kidding…kind of, but I was saying a year ago to watch out for Twitter and people kept making fun of my new hobby. Now we have Oprah, Ashton, and Andy Stanley on Twitter. Apparently it’s catching on fast in the world of sports too. Check this Tennessean story out!
Since government economic numbers lag real time, we were technically in this current recession before we knew it. My prediction is that we will find months from now that the recession has already officially ended by this point and the recovery has slowly begun.
I love interacting with seminary students. As they have their minds stretched, they continue to stretch me attempting to wrestle through doctrine with them. That happened this weekend with a young man who attended our church prior to his call to ministry. We were discussing the concept of grace and I was reminded of a passage that has stretched my thoughts over the years.
Jesus experienced something I think most of us have at times as believers. Sometimes the hardest people to witness to are those we love and know the most. I know countless pastors who have lost siblings, parents and childhood friends, but have limited success witnessing to them.
Apparently people still use these. I thought paper calendars had disappeared. I am a scheduled individual, but I haven’t used one in years. I have used Google calendar, Outlook, iCal, and my Blackberry, but all online. I even had a period where I used a Lotus Spreadsheet, but I never printed it.
Years ago I participated in a one-day medical clinic in a slum near Rio, Brazil that remains nameless, because the government has yet to name it. It is literally built on the side of a steep mountain. Simply walking to the clinic was a huge task. My job was to evangelize the crowd waiting to see the doctors. My translator and I had several decisions to accept Christ, but remarkably we also encountered a good number of professing believers. When I told them that the desire was to eventually start a church in the slum, they were ecstatic. One lady began to jump up and down with excitement. They wanted a local church!
I love it though. I actually read her story today. She had a dream, she worked for it, and she achieved it. This is a true picture of what determination and motivation can do for someone. What I probably love more than anything was what I read recently, that Susan’s real dream was to show her mother that she could do something with her life. Love it!
What tips do you have to make sure a project is completed successfully?
I always said that I wanted to be a father deserving of those corny plaques displayed at the Christian bookstores. If my boys ever gave me one of them, and I deserved it, then I would feel I had accomplished what God called me to do as a dad. I’m thinking now that I may need to contextualize that standard with the culture of the day.
There are signs of encouragement and life returning to the economy. The unemployment rate is a factor that usually lags behind other indicators, so that’s still very discouraging, but there are hints of better days to come. How should we react during the waiting times like this? Let me offer a few suggestions:
Hypothetically (or maybe not), how would one grow a church that had no young families? Any suggestions on the matter would be greatly appreciated.
The Obama’s have a new dog. The dog is a six-month-old Portuguese water dog, named Bo, given to Malia and Sasha Obama by the Edward Kennedy family. Apparently the dog wasn’t working out at the previous owner’s home, so they thought to give it to the Obama family. I’m happy for them, knowing the joy an animal can bring a household.
One Saturday morning some 2,000 years ago, surely there was a group of mixed-up, hurting, confused, sickly, tired, afraid, and desperate people. They had placed all their hopes in a man who claimed to be the promised Messiah. They were there when their hope was nailed to a cross. They watched their mentor and friend die a cruel death. What would they do now? What was next?
Technology is being used in incredible ways for Kingdom growth. It seems this Easter I have seen much more advertising for “Internet Churchâ€. Several leading churches are encouraging people to check out the Internet this Easter. That’s not new, but it seems more prevalent this year than ever.
That is, until the morning came. The night before it was dark. I couldn’t see fully what I was doing. There was one bracket holding the light in place that when moved, made the headlight one of the easiest to change I have ever experienced. I’m driving his truck this week as he drives mine, so I’m thankful for the headlight.
