In June 2011, I had the privilege of teaching on Ruth chapter 1. I was hoping that I would have been able to finish teaching the rest of the book, but the scheduling just wasn't there. I have posted the first part of the lesson below. This first lesson is on Ruth 1:1-5.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Time Again for Another Clip Show!
Here is your weekly collection of fun, interesting, and thought-provoking links. Learn something new.
Enjoy! If you find any links you would like to share with our readers, please comment below.
- Harrison Ford’s forty film roles. How many have you seen? Probably too many.
- Never ask T-Rex how much he loves you
- I apparently never have to watch another Disney movie because if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.
- The new Switchfoot album, Vice Verses is getting great reviews.
- In related news, Switchfoot releases tour dates with Anberlin, but, of course, they aren't coming anywhere near me.
- Relevant Magazine discusses the importance of failure.
Enjoy! If you find any links you would like to share with our readers, please comment below.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
This Life is Not About Me
One of the things that I am trying to make true about myself and something that I am trying to instill in my children is that our lives are not our own. I used to joke about Rick Warren's The Purpose-Driven Life because the opening sentence is so hokey: "It's not about you". But in reality, that is a fact. We were put on Earth in order to bring glory to our Father in Heaven. That is our sole purpose. The Westminster Larger Catechism tells us that the chief end of man is to glorify God (Romans 11:36).
With that in mind, my prayer is that I will live a selfless life, one where, when I am done, people can look back and not see me, but see the amazing things that God allowed me to be a part of. A life like this is not easily achieved. This is the reason why I am running the 10K. I want to be able to say to my children, "God allowed me to run so that other boys and girls can have food and water. God let me be a part of something bigger." I want to set an example for them in such a way.
One of my favorite bands is Anberlin. Stephen Christian, the lead singer, is an amazing lyricist and has a real heart for God. I posted a video from their song "Northern Lights." I think it is rather fitting for this discussion.
Purchase the MP3 from Amazon.com: Burn Out Brighter (Northern Lights)
Buy the Album:New Surrender | MP3 Album: New Surrender
With that in mind, my prayer is that I will live a selfless life, one where, when I am done, people can look back and not see me, but see the amazing things that God allowed me to be a part of. A life like this is not easily achieved. This is the reason why I am running the 10K. I want to be able to say to my children, "God allowed me to run so that other boys and girls can have food and water. God let me be a part of something bigger." I want to set an example for them in such a way.
One of my favorite bands is Anberlin. Stephen Christian, the lead singer, is an amazing lyricist and has a real heart for God. I posted a video from their song "Northern Lights." I think it is rather fitting for this discussion.
Purchase the MP3 from Amazon.com: Burn Out Brighter (Northern Lights)
Buy the Album:New Surrender | MP3 Album: New Surrender
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
The Fear of Man
I want to begin this post by saying that I am not a fan of Perry Noble. For those of you who don't know the name Perry Noble, he is a "celebrity" pastor with a church in South Carolina. Noble is extremely influential and has a passion for leading others, but his inappropriate language makes him difficult for me to tolerate.
After saying that, I will admit that there are times when Noble does have a nugget of truth that I latch on to and learn from. An example of such can be found in the article that he wrote on "The Five Core Values of a Church in Decline". One of the core values that he identified is the "Fear of Man". When a church's decisions are made because of what church members will think, not what God wants, the church is beginning its demise.
I wonder how prevalent this thought process is. I guess to some extent all churches have to keep this in mind. At the same time, though, when how certain members of the church will react becomes the driving force between the things that the church does and does not do, that becomes a real problem. It makes you wonder who is leading the church, the pastor under the direction of Jesus Christ or the well-established members who have been at the church since it began.
I have seen this take place in a number of churches. It often leads to difficult and hazardous territory that can lead to hurt feelings and individuals walking away from the church.
I guess I don't really have a point to what I am writing. I am simply reacting to the article that I read and what I gleaned from my reading.
Any thoughts?
After saying that, I will admit that there are times when Noble does have a nugget of truth that I latch on to and learn from. An example of such can be found in the article that he wrote on "The Five Core Values of a Church in Decline". One of the core values that he identified is the "Fear of Man". When a church's decisions are made because of what church members will think, not what God wants, the church is beginning its demise.
I wonder how prevalent this thought process is. I guess to some extent all churches have to keep this in mind. At the same time, though, when how certain members of the church will react becomes the driving force between the things that the church does and does not do, that becomes a real problem. It makes you wonder who is leading the church, the pastor under the direction of Jesus Christ or the well-established members who have been at the church since it began.
I have seen this take place in a number of churches. It often leads to difficult and hazardous territory that can lead to hurt feelings and individuals walking away from the church.
I guess I don't really have a point to what I am writing. I am simply reacting to the article that I read and what I gleaned from my reading.
Any thoughts?
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Big Event and How You Can Help
Last year, a friend of mine named Brandan Thomas ran a marathon to raise money for World Vision. For those of you who don't know anything about World Vision, they are a Christian organization that works with individuals around the world to fight the causes of poverty and hunger. A large part of the work they do is through the sponsorship of individual children.
Anyway, Brandan's run has inspired me to do a run of my own. While I am nowhere close to being ready to run a marathon, I will be running a 10K on October 1, 2011, in order to raise money for World Vision. The goal I have set for myself is to raise $500 to go toward helping World Vision. I would love for you to be a part of that goal.
How can you help? There are several ways that I would love for you to partner with me on.
1) Pray. I have never run a race farther than 1 mile before. I am actually very slow and not incredibly athletic. I would covet your prayers as I train and as I am raising money.
2) Donate. Not everyone can run the race, but I would love for you to be a sponsor of me while I run the race. You do not have to make a large donation (but you can if you want), but even a donation of $5 will go to help World Vision. If you would like to donate, you can visit my Donation Page.
3) Share. Please share this information with those around you. Take it to the folks you go to church with. Post it on your Facebook page (there is a link to do so on the Donation Page). Share this blog post with others (that is a very good idea). Do whatever you can to get the word out about this race and what I am doing to raise both money and awareness for the cause of World Vision.
4) Visit. Take some time to visit the World Vision website and get more information about the work they are doing and how you can help. An appropriate verse for what they are doing is Matthew 25:40 - And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I really hope that you will take some time to consider how you might be able to partner with me in this endeavor. I would love to have you become a financial partner, but, most of all, please be in prayer.
Anyway, Brandan's run has inspired me to do a run of my own. While I am nowhere close to being ready to run a marathon, I will be running a 10K on October 1, 2011, in order to raise money for World Vision. The goal I have set for myself is to raise $500 to go toward helping World Vision. I would love for you to be a part of that goal.
How can you help? There are several ways that I would love for you to partner with me on.
1) Pray. I have never run a race farther than 1 mile before. I am actually very slow and not incredibly athletic. I would covet your prayers as I train and as I am raising money.
2) Donate. Not everyone can run the race, but I would love for you to be a sponsor of me while I run the race. You do not have to make a large donation (but you can if you want), but even a donation of $5 will go to help World Vision. If you would like to donate, you can visit my Donation Page.
3) Share. Please share this information with those around you. Take it to the folks you go to church with. Post it on your Facebook page (there is a link to do so on the Donation Page). Share this blog post with others (that is a very good idea). Do whatever you can to get the word out about this race and what I am doing to raise both money and awareness for the cause of World Vision.
4) Visit. Take some time to visit the World Vision website and get more information about the work they are doing and how you can help. An appropriate verse for what they are doing is Matthew 25:40 - And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I really hope that you will take some time to consider how you might be able to partner with me in this endeavor. I would love to have you become a financial partner, but, most of all, please be in prayer.
Another One Bites the Dust
It would appear that this "round" of my job search is over. I had sent a resume to a church in Texas back in May and I found out that the job has been filled yesterday. The sad fact to this story is that I did not find out from the search committee that the position had been filled. Rather, I went to the church's website and saw that they had welcomed their new youth pastor several weeks ago, at the end of June.
The really frustrating part of this process was that I was in contact with a woman at the church during the process. At first, she was very forthcoming and quick to answer emails. Then, suddenly, the responses completely stopped. I emailed her three times over a several week period and did not hear back. Finally, last night, I received an email that stated, "I apologize that you didn't receive an email. I sent personalized emails to all the candidates, but I guess you were left off the list."
I guess that mistakes like this happen, but the part that gets to me is that every church that I have dealt with so far has treated me this way. I either get no response or, when I ask questions about what I could do to improve as a candidate, my inbox remains strangely empty. My hope is that a pastor will read this and do his best to make sure that the process is improved. I know other places that hire do similar things, but you would think that a church would be different.
The really frustrating part of this process was that I was in contact with a woman at the church during the process. At first, she was very forthcoming and quick to answer emails. Then, suddenly, the responses completely stopped. I emailed her three times over a several week period and did not hear back. Finally, last night, I received an email that stated, "I apologize that you didn't receive an email. I sent personalized emails to all the candidates, but I guess you were left off the list."
I guess that mistakes like this happen, but the part that gets to me is that every church that I have dealt with so far has treated me this way. I either get no response or, when I ask questions about what I could do to improve as a candidate, my inbox remains strangely empty. My hope is that a pastor will read this and do his best to make sure that the process is improved. I know other places that hire do similar things, but you would think that a church would be different.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Just For Fun: The Top Ten Urban Legends and Myths
I am a huge fan of urban legends. I love to hear them and I love to tell them. In fact, I even went so far as to spread an urban legend around the campus of my college. It blew up so much that one of the vice presidents made a chapel announcement about it. Maybe I'll post about it another time.
Anyway, I present to you the Top Ten Urban Legends and Myths. A couple of them I had never heard or just brushed aside. I was glad to see that the "Kidney Heist" made #1. There were several omissions, but no list is perfect. Truth be told, there were several semesters that I was really hoping to get the 4.0 (see #10). Just kidding...or am I?
What is the best urban legend you have ever heard?
Anyway, I present to you the Top Ten Urban Legends and Myths. A couple of them I had never heard or just brushed aside. I was glad to see that the "Kidney Heist" made #1. There were several omissions, but no list is perfect. Truth be told, there were several semesters that I was really hoping to get the 4.0 (see #10). Just kidding...or am I?
What is the best urban legend you have ever heard?
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