February 2007

From the Desiring God Blog:

Starting this week and over the next 12 months we will be releasing short video podcasts designed to be a weekly encouragement and challenge to not waste our lives. As the Lord provides, our plan is to produce at least 100 hundred episodes. Every episode will take a theme from the book, Don’t Waste Your Life, and challenge us to think about what we are doing with the lives the Lord has given us. We are encouraging everyone with a website, blog, etc. to use any of these episodes to spread the message around the world. We are praying that many who would never read the book may be impacted in a significant way by watching one of these podcasts.

Subscribe to the video podcast. (You can also subscribe in iTunes.)Related Tags: Desiring God, Desiring God Ministries, John Piper, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Bethlehem Baptist, Minneapolis, Minneapolis Church, Don’t Waste Your Life, John Piper Book, John Piper Author, Desiring God Podcast, John Piper Podcast, DGM, iTunes

I’m stealing the following from David Wayne aka Jollyblogger. For the full thoughts of DW click HERE.

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The Pew Research Center has come out with a survey describing the lifestyles, values and beliefs of 18-25 year olds that they call “A Portrait of ‘Generation Next.‘” It’s a 45 page document and I have put a summary of their findings in the post continuation below.

A few things stand out to me.

The message of conservatives, both religious and political conservatives, doesn’t seem to have gained much traction with this generation. On the political end of things, it is noteworthy that the majority of this age group thinks immigration is a good thing, supports gay marriage and votes Democratic.

HT - CatalystSpace

Meet Generation Next:

• They use technology and the internet to connect with people in new and distinctive ways.
Text messaging, instant messaging and email keep them in constant contact with friends.
About half say they sent or received a text message over the phone in the past day,
approximately double the proportion of those ages 26-40.

• They are the “Look at Me� generation. Social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and
MyYearbook allow individuals to post a personal profile complete with photos and
descriptions of interests and hobbies. A majority of Gen Nexters have used one of these
social networking sites, and more than four-in-ten have created a personal profile.

• Their embrace of new technology has made them uniquely aware of its advantages and
disadvantages. They are more likely than older adults to say these cyber-tools make it easier
for them to make new friends and help them to stay close to old friends and family. But more
than eight-in-ten also acknowledge that these tools “make people lazier.â€? Read the rest of this entry »

Dr. Ben Witherington attended a presentation given by Rob Bell (of Mars Hill Bible Church, Grand Rapids Michigan) at the University of Kentucky’s Singletary Auditorium recently and commented on his blog about what he thought of that presentation. Rob Bell is best known for his Nooma Videos and his book “Velvet Elvis“. Below is a small segment of Dr. Witherington’s thoughts on Bell, both positive and negative. For the full post by Dr. Witherington click HERE.

There are a variety of things to commend about Rob and his two books “Velvet Elvis” and “Sex God“. They often raise the right sort of questions, and it is clear that Rob connects well with the 20 something crowds. He is an engaging dialogue partner, and witty at times. I especially appreciate how self-effacing he is in his books in dealing with issues like his own struggles for example with depression. He is good at the relational level of things, and one can readily see that he has some pastoral skills. He also has some teaching skills as well. I am thankful that he takes the Bible seriously, and that he seeks to understand it in its original Jewish context. And he has some justified complaints about modernity and its world view as well. It seems clear that God is using him to reach a wide variety of young people, perhaps many who are not darkening the doors of church or can’t relate to traditional church. The videos are engaging from a cinematographic and musical point of view, and there is content which is challenging, and not just fluff.

Having spoken of the promise of his writings and speaking engagements and videos, it is necessary in all fairness to turn around and talk about the problems. I will stick to a few major ones in the way he handles the Bible and issues of orthodoxy and orthopraxy. First of all it seems clear that Rob, in his valid attempt to read Jesus and the NT writers in the context of early Judaism, has not used good enough sources to really help him understand the difference between Judaism prior to the two Jewish wars in the first and second centuries A.D, and later Mishnaic and Talmudic Judaism. Read the rest of this entry »

Colin Powell, Jimmy Carter Among Speaker Lineup for Leadership Summit 2007

A former Secretary of State and former U.S. president will be among the speakers at The Leadership Summit 2007. Colin Powell and Jimmy Carter will join Bill Hybels and a host of other leadership experts for the two-and-a-half-day event, August 9-11.

The Leadership Summit, now in its twelfth year, will be experienced live in more than 100 locations across North America and via videocast and in an additional 50+ cities around the world.

This year’s speakers are:

Bill Hybels

Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church and Founder of The Leadership Summit

Senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, and Chairman of the Board for the Willow Creek Association. Hybels is known worldwide for his work equipping and training church leaders and is the author of Courageous Leadership and Holy Discontent, releasing June 2007.

General Colin Powell

Former U.S. Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

U.S. Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005 under President George W. Bush and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1989 to 1993, Powell is the founder of America’s Promise — The Alliance for Youth. He is also the author of a best-selling memoir, My American Journey.

Jimmy Carter

39th President of the United States and 2002 Nobel Peace Prize Recipient

Carter is founder of the Carter Center in Atlanta that promotes health, democracy, and human rights across the globe. Carter is well known for his work on behalf of Habitat for Humanity, and his many books include 2005’s Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis.

John Ortberg

Best-selling author and teaching pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in California

Teaching pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in California and best-selling author, Ortberg is a sought-after speaker on the subject of spiritual formation. His books include If You Want to Walk On Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat and the upcoming release, When the Game is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box. Read the rest of this entry »

(From the Pastor’s Weekly Briefing by FotF)

Saint Valentine’s Day, or simply Valentine’s Day, which falls on February 14, has become the traditional day every year when expressions of love are made using cards, candy or flowers. The Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines will be exchanged worldwide, making it the most popular holiday except for Christmas when over two and a half billion cards are sent.

Many legends have developed over the years as to the origin of Valentine’s Day, but most agree that it refers to a man named Valentinus who was martyred in the late third century during the reign of Claudius II. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, three men with the name Valentinus, which was common at that time, were martyred between 269 and 273 AD. Two of the most popular legends that have endured come from the 15th Century. One claims that on the night before Valentine was to be martyred for being a Christian, he passed a love note to his jailer’s daughter that read, “From your Valentine.” Another states that during a ban on marriages of Roman soldiers by the Emperor Claudius II, St. Valentine secretly helped arrange marriages. Claudius felt that in order to create a perfect army, soldiers should not have to deal with the distractions of marriage. Valentine believed that men who were about to face danger and possible death could only exhibit the required bravery if they were sent off to battle with the love of a wife.

Another theory — regarding the observance of Valentine’s Day on February 14 — is that it is the Church’s response to the ancient Roman fertility festival of Lupercalia on February 15. In the fifth century, Pope Gelasius abolished Lupercalia and declared that the feast of St. Valentine would be on February 14.

Valentine’s Day has also now become a time to celebrate the permanence of marriage and to encourage couples to renew their vows. Since 1996, the seven days leading up to Valentine’s Day have been designated as Marriage Week USA according to Smart Marriages which can be contacted at www.smartmarriages.com/.

Christian uber-blogger Tim Challies is writing a book about discernment. Today he posted on discernment. I’ve included his definition and how he breaks it down below because I think it is clear and insightful and useful for Christians to think over.

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Discernment is the skill of understanding and applying God’s Word with the purpose of separating truth from error and right from wrong.

When we practice discernment, we are applying the truths of the Bible to our lives. We are attempting to understand the words of the Bible and trusting God’s Word to give clarity so we might see things as God sees them. Our goal in discernment is to do just this: to see things through God’s eyes through the Bible and thus to see things as they really are. Like wiping the steam from a mirror, we seek to remove what is opaque so we might see with God-given clarity.

To aid our understanding, we’ll now unpack this definition, looking at each of the individual components.

Discernment is…

…The Skill…

Discernment is a skill. It is not an inherent ability like breathing or chewing, but a skill like reading or public speaking that must be practiced and must be improved. There is not a person on earth who has been born with a full measure of discernment or who has all of the discernment he will ever need. There is not a person who has attained a level of expertise that allows him to move on and to leave discernment behind. Like the master musician who practices his skills more as his acclaim grows, in the same way a discerning person will see with ever-greater clarity his need to increase in discernment. He will want to sharpen and improve this skill throughout his life.

God graciously enables and equips us practice discernment with increasing accuracy and confidence. Like other skills, discernment increases with practice. An apprentice to a tailor will at first make slow, hesitant cuts to a piece of fabric. His experienced tutor, though, will confidently make accurate cuts in one smooth movement. In the same way, what is at first difficult can, with practice, become more natural. The more we know of truth, the more our ability to discern will increase. Read the rest of this entry »

Connect. Inspire. Equip. Challenge.
Exponential is a cross-denominational gathering designed to connect, inspire, equip and challenge church planting leaders. Nearly 9 of 10 attendees of last years conference said they would attend again and nearly 50% said the conference either helped them discern a specific next step in church planting or inspired them to pursue a next step.Speakers
Below are just some of the speakers at this year’s conference. For a full list CLICK HERE.

Efrem Smith - Efrem is an internationally recognized leader and speaker who uses storytelling, comedy, and passion to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ at a level that people can understand as well as presents principles for living the life on a daily basis. He also consults on diversity and multi-ethnic issues and has been a speaker at many high school and middle school assemblies and retreats. Efrem is co-author of the book The Hip Hop Church. Efrem is married to Donecia and has two daughters; Jaeda and Mireya. He has received many awards such as the Role Model Award from the Hennepin County Community Coalition, and the Community Service Award from Saint John’s University.

Ed Stetzer - Ed has trained pastors and church planters on five continents, is an experienced church planter, and has served as a seminary professor. His book, Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age, helps church planters to start and grow biblically faithful and culturally relevant churches. The book has become a standard church planting textbook in many evangelical seminaries. He has coauthored (with Elmer Towns) Perimeters of Light: Biblical Boundaries for the Emerging Church which helps churches to determine what parts of church life are biblically commanded. Ed lives in Cumming, GA with his wife Donna and two daughters, Kristen and Jaclyn.

Mark Batterson - Mark serves as lead pastor of National Community Church (NCC) in Washington, D.C. Starting with a core group of 19, NCC has morphed into one church with five services meeting in movie theaters throughout the district. The church also owns and operates Ebenezer’s, the largest coffeehouse on Capitol Hill. Mark is the author of ID: The True You, and a daily blogger at http://www.markbatterson.com/. He lives on Capitol Hill with his wife Lora, and their three children. Read the rest of this entry »

“I’m proud to be the first African-American coach to win this,” said Dungy during the trophy ceremony Sunday night, according to the Associated Press. “But again, more than anything, Lovie Smith and I are not only African-American but also Christian coaches, showing you can do it the Lord’s way. We’re more proud of that.”

(for the full Christian Post article click here)

Tony Dungy is a member of Northside New Era Baptist Church. NNE seems to have a solid Evangelical basis from what I can gather from their website.

I’ll admit that I thought the Colts would win, but that I was cheering for the Bears. I didn’t think the bears were playing well enough on offense to overcome the new found defense for the Colts. When the Bears ran back the opening kickoff for a touchdown I had a moment of hope, but Peyton Manning and the Colts offense systematically crushed those hopes for most of the rest of the game. Rex Grossman didn’t help much either.

I was asked by my pastor (Phil Print) about how I choose who to cheer for in the game. When I told him I have a system to determine who to cheer for, he looked at me like I was a bit strange, so I explained.

I am a Lions fan first. Yes, it’s hard to admit that. The Lions are TERRIBLE. I became a Lions fan when they drafted Barry Sanders, and it has been tough to watch them since his retirement.
The Vikings by proxy are my second team. I live in St. Paul, so it’s hard to not be somewhat influence by them with every game of theirs on local TV.

From there I cheer for any team in the old NFC Central over any other team. So I’ll cheer for the Bears, Packers, Bucks over other teams. I prefer NFC teams over AFC teams with the exception of the Miami Dolphins (influenced by my uncle Bob) and the San Diego Chargers.

I use a similar system for the NBA and MLB.

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