can't wait! Wed, Dec 14 @Immanuel Baptist Richmond See http://ping.fm/uv5Ne for tickets.
"Joy – An Irish Christmas" is a unique celebration of the birth of Christ with Keith and Kristyn Getty and their gifted musicians featuring a joyful sounds of traditional carols and new carols co-written by the this couple and Stuart Townend.
Saturday, December 03, 2011
Thursday, December 01, 2011
More From the Garden to the City by John Dyer
Some more favorite quotes:
God is more interested in our theology of worship than in our technology of worship.
Instrumentalism is partially true in the sense that individuals are free to use phones however they please, but determinism also has an element of truth in that society at large tends to use the technology in a certain way.
In many parts of America today, the ritual of getting a car functions in the same way that becoming a hunter would have functioned for some Native Americans long ago.
What the Scriptures call our “flesh” is that part of us that is always bent toward self, at the expense of others and the exclusion of God. Our flesh, then, will always gravitate toward technology that favors the individual over the group.
The people who deeply trusted technology to give them security and meaning had those very things stripped away from them by technological change. Notice that God was able to change their behavior, but he didn’t have to take away their free will or destroy their creation to do so. All he had was to introduce technological change.
The Tower of Babel should remind us that social networks are not just toys—they are part of the most powerful technology in the world.
God took a group of slaves and gave them a set of objects, images, rituals, and language that would transform them into an entirely new culture, distinct from everyone around them.
the Hebrews were effectively living in the Silicon Valley of their day, watching the first major communication revolution. Although they didn’t create the first alphabet, early forms of Hebrew are directly related to those first alphabets.
For the first time since Babel, there was a common language among the peoples of the earth. This time, God employed that common language as the means of transmitting the gospel to Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth.
God is telling Israel that the images, forms, and tools through which we approach him do, in fact, matter to him.
We, too, need to become aware of how mediums work, and we will say that they do at least three things: they communicate meaning, they create new cultures, and they shape our thinking patterns.
Our souls are stained with sin, our bodies are destined for death, and our creations cause as many problems as they solve, but God has promised to restore them all.
God is more interested in our theology of worship than in our technology of worship.
Instrumentalism is partially true in the sense that individuals are free to use phones however they please, but determinism also has an element of truth in that society at large tends to use the technology in a certain way.
In many parts of America today, the ritual of getting a car functions in the same way that becoming a hunter would have functioned for some Native Americans long ago.
What the Scriptures call our “flesh” is that part of us that is always bent toward self, at the expense of others and the exclusion of God. Our flesh, then, will always gravitate toward technology that favors the individual over the group.
The people who deeply trusted technology to give them security and meaning had those very things stripped away from them by technological change. Notice that God was able to change their behavior, but he didn’t have to take away their free will or destroy their creation to do so. All he had was to introduce technological change.
The Tower of Babel should remind us that social networks are not just toys—they are part of the most powerful technology in the world.
God took a group of slaves and gave them a set of objects, images, rituals, and language that would transform them into an entirely new culture, distinct from everyone around them.
the Hebrews were effectively living in the Silicon Valley of their day, watching the first major communication revolution. Although they didn’t create the first alphabet, early forms of Hebrew are directly related to those first alphabets.
For the first time since Babel, there was a common language among the peoples of the earth. This time, God employed that common language as the means of transmitting the gospel to Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth.
God is telling Israel that the images, forms, and tools through which we approach him do, in fact, matter to him.
We, too, need to become aware of how mediums work, and we will say that they do at least three things: they communicate meaning, they create new cultures, and they shape our thinking patterns.
Our souls are stained with sin, our bodies are destined for death, and our creations cause as many problems as they solve, but God has promised to restore them all.
Saturday, October 01, 2011
The Great Need of the Hour
"The great need of the hour is for godly men within our churches to be so sensitive to God's Word & to the Holy Spirit that they recognize deceit & have the courage to deal with it." from Elders in Congregational Life: Rediscovering the Biblical Model for Church Leadership by Phil A. Newton
Friday, July 08, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Saturday, April 09, 2011
What Distinguishes Outstanding Leaders
“what distinguishes them is their clarity and persuasiveness of their ideas, the depth of their commitment, and their openness to continually learning more." Peter Senge in The Fifth Discipline
Friday, April 01, 2011
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." http://ping.fm/MxPyg
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
Will We Go?
"When Jesus looked at the harassed and helpless multitudes, apparently his concern was not that the lost would not come to the Father. Instead his concern was that his followers would not go to the lost."
from Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt
from Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt
81% through Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by Platt, David on Kindle for Android! http://www.amazon.com/kindleforandroid/
One Year Challenge
"The challenge is for one year, and it involves five components. I dare you over the next year to…
1 pray for the entire world;
2 read through the entire Word;
3 sacrifice your money for a specific purpose;
4 spend your time in another context;
5 commit your life to a multiplying community.
from Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt
1 pray for the entire world;
2 read through the entire Word;
3 sacrifice your money for a specific purpose;
4 spend your time in another context;
5 commit your life to a multiplying community.
from Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt
Free to be Radical
"your life is free to be radical when you see death as reward. This is the essence of what Jesus taught in Matthew 10, and I believe it is the key to taking back your faith from the American dream."
from Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt
from Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt
Church as troop carrier into the church as luxury liner
"When I think about the history of the SS United States, I wonder if she has something to teach us about the history of the church. The church, like the SS United States, has been designed for battle. The purpose of the church is to mobilize a people to accomplish a mission. Yet we seem to have turned the church as troop carrier into the church as luxury liner. We seem to have organized ourselves, not to engage in battle for the souls of peoples around the world, but to indulge ourselves in the peaceful comforts of the world."
from Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt
from Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt
Ichthus
How far we have come when we paste this symbol identified with martyred brothers and sisters in the first century onto the backs of our SUVs and luxury sedans in the twenty-first century.
from Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt
from Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt
Monday, March 07, 2011
69% through Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by Platt, David on Kindle for Android! http://www.amazon.com/kindleforandroid/
Thursday, March 03, 2011
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
Am I Content With Necessities?
"am I willing to live a life that is content with food and clothing, having the basic necessities of my life provided for? Or do I want more?"
"Why not begin operating under the idea that God has given us excess, not so we could have more, but so we could give more?"
from Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt
"Why not begin operating under the idea that God has given us excess, not so we could have more, but so we could give more?"
from Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
Poke the Box by Seth Godin
Some of my favorite quotes from Poke the Box by Seth Godin:
"As organizations have begun to coalesce around projects, they’ve made a startling discovery: the starting part is harder than it looks."
"They don’t understand that Excellence isn’t about working extra hard to do what you’re told. It’s about taking the initiative to do work you decide is worth doing."
"The greatest challenge any successful organization faces is finding the guts to risk that success in order to accomplish something great. And risking that success ultimately becomes the only way to accomplish something great."
"Joy comes from surprise and connection and humanity and transparency and new. These are alien concepts in many places. McDonald’s, Hertz, Dell, and others crank it out. They show up. They lower costs. They use a stopwatch to measure output."
"As organizations have begun to coalesce around projects, they’ve made a startling discovery: the starting part is harder than it looks."
"They don’t understand that Excellence isn’t about working extra hard to do what you’re told. It’s about taking the initiative to do work you decide is worth doing."
"The greatest challenge any successful organization faces is finding the guts to risk that success in order to accomplish something great. And risking that success ultimately becomes the only way to accomplish something great."
"Joy comes from surprise and connection and humanity and transparency and new. These are alien concepts in many places. McDonald’s, Hertz, Dell, and others crank it out. They show up. They lower costs. They use a stopwatch to measure output."
5 Things I?m Surprised I Can?t Find in the Bible
"This exercise, of course, isn’t designed to register complaints with the Bible. It is perfect. The exercise does, however, instruct me. I am far less than perfect. It reminds me to not shout where God has whispered. It reminds me to seek to align my priorities with His. It reminds me that while the Bible is not less than a rule book for the Christian, it is more than that. It is the very food by which we live. When we find ourselves troubled by the Bible, either by what is in there or what isn’t, we get a clue as to where our troubles lie. We learn submission to authority is more important than the form of the authority. We learn that while form matters, worship is a matter of the heart. We learn to allow preaching to correct us, more than we correct preaching. We learn that being a godly spouse is more powerful than picking the perfect spouse. And we learn that we have eternity to learn more about who God is."
from http://ping.fm/08VTC
from http://ping.fm/08VTC
Monday, February 28, 2011
Radical Desperation
Instead of dependence on ourselves, we express radical desperation for the power of his Spirit, and we trust that Jesus stands ready to give us everything we ask for so that he might make much of our Father in the world. Think about it. Would you say that your life is marked right now by desperation for the Spirit of God? Would you say that the church you are a part of is characterized by this sense of desperation?
53% through Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by Platt, David on Kindle for Android! http://www.amazon.com/kindleforandroid/
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Desperation for the Spirit of God
"Instead of dependence on ourselves, we express radical desperation for the power of his Spirit, and we trust that Jesus stands ready to give us everything we ask for so that he might make much of our Father in the world. Think about it. Would you say that your life is marked right now by desperation for the Spirit of God? Would you say that the church you are a part of is characterized by this sense of desperation?"
from Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt
from Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt
Desperately Seek God's Spirit
"The church I lead could have the least gifted people, the least talented people, the fewest leaders, and the least money, and this church under the power of the Holy Spirit could still shake the nations for his glory. The reality is that the church I lead can accomplish more during the next month in the power of God’s Spirit than we can in the next hundred years apart from his provision. His power is so superior to ours. Why do we not desperately seek it?"
from Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt
from Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt
Uncompromising, Unconditional Abandonment
"in the end we will determine not to waste our lives on anything but uncompromising, unconditional abandonment to a gracious, loving Savior who invites us to take radical risk and promises us radical reward." Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt
Replacing What Is Radical With What Is Comfortable
"I could not help but think that somewhere along the way we had missed what is radical about our faith and replaced it with what is comfortable. We were settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves when the central message of Christianity is actually about abandoning ourselves." from Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by David Platt
Radical Obedience
If Christians around the world were to suddenly renounce their personal agendas, their life goals and their aspirations, and begin responding in radical obedience to everything God showed them, the world would be turn upside down." Spiritual Leadership by Henry & Richard Blackaby
Walk With Him Intimately
"He asks leaders to walk with him so intimately that, when he reveals what is on his agenda, they will immediately adjust their lives to his will and the results will bring glory to God." Spiritual Leadership by Henry & Richard Blackaby
Friday, February 25, 2011
10% through Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream by Platt, David on Kindle for Android! http://www.amazon.com/kindleforandroid/
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
89% through The Seven Deadly Sins of Small Group Ministry by Donahue, Bill; Robinson, Russ on Kindle for Android! http://www.amazon.com/kindleforandroid/
Monday, February 21, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
97% through Spiritual Leadership: Moving People on to God's Agenda by Blackaby, Henry T. on Kindle for Android! http://www.amazon.com/kindleforandroid/
Thursday, February 17, 2011
23% through Welcoming Justice: God's Movement Toward Beloved Community (Resources for Reconciliation) by John M. Perkins on Kindle for Android! http://www.amazon.com/kindleforandroid/
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Hold Conversations, Not Meetings by Tony Golsby-Smith
"Of course, I am not arguing that an organization should throw out all of its agenda-driven process meetings and replace them with conversations. But by holding more conversations and fewer meetings, you will find that people begin to solve your company's wickedest problems faster, and in a richer way. And instead of complaining about being bored to death, people will talk about how much fun they've had." from http://ping.fm/tliVc
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
“The rapid adoption of smartphone and tablet technology is changing how enterprises view and conduct business in unprecedented ways that challenge how to best utilize mobility without compromising security. Enterprise Mobility Services alleviates these concerns and allows our customers to strategically map out how best to use mobile technology.” – Steve Schuckenbrock, president, Dell Services.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
20% through Welcoming Justice: God's Movement Toward Beloved Community (Resources for Reconciliation) by John M. Perkins on Kindle for Android! http://www.amazon.com/kindleforandroid/
Sunday, February 06, 2011
Saturday, February 05, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
12% through Welcoming Justice: God's Movement Toward Beloved Community (Resources for Reconciliation) by John M. Perkins on Kindle for Android! http://www.amazon.com/kindleforandroid/
Friday, January 28, 2011
5% through Trusting God: Even
When Life Hurts by Gerald Bridges;Jerry Bridges on Kindle for Android! http://www.amazon.com/kindleforandroid/
loving it again
When Life Hurts by Gerald Bridges;Jerry Bridges on Kindle for Android! http://www.amazon.com/kindleforandroid/
loving it again
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Are All Religions The Same?
No, I believe that the God who created the universe wanted a personal relationship with each of us and revealed himself through the Bible in the persons of God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son & the Holy Spirit. He offers us the free gift of eternal life by believing that Jesus died for my sins.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy
This was my favorite biography this year. Lots of fascinating sports trivia, but the examples of struggling through difficult times and learning to depend more fully on Jesus Christ were inspiring. Some of my favorites quotes:
“If you're going to be a good teacher, you can't just teach the A students. A good teacher is the one who helps everyone earn an A.” Tony’s dad, Dr. Wilbur Dungy
“What’s important is not the accolades and memories of success but the way you respond when opportunities are denied.”
“I need to treat everybody fairly, but fair doesn’t always mean equal.”
“The truth is that most people have a better chance to be uncommon by effort than by natural gifts.”
“Despite all the good things that occurred that year, I can still look back and say that 1978 was the first season in my life in which sports weren’t the most important thing to me. I finally realized that how I lived on earth was just as important as my salvation. God had me here for a reason, and it wasn’t just to play ball. It was then that the words of Matthew 16:26 really started to sink in: ‘And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?’"
“most of the failings of biblical leaders were spiritual rather than tactical. I needed to be prepared as much spiritually as I was in the Xs and Os.”
“Pain can be a highly effective instructor”
“When you can do the common things of life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.” George Washington Carver
“He didn't call me to be successful in the world's eyes; He called me to be faithful.”
“I coach football, But the good I can do to glorify God along the way is my real purpose.”
“If you're going to be a good teacher, you can't just teach the A students. A good teacher is the one who helps everyone earn an A.” Tony’s dad, Dr. Wilbur Dungy
“What’s important is not the accolades and memories of success but the way you respond when opportunities are denied.”
“I need to treat everybody fairly, but fair doesn’t always mean equal.”
“The truth is that most people have a better chance to be uncommon by effort than by natural gifts.”
“Despite all the good things that occurred that year, I can still look back and say that 1978 was the first season in my life in which sports weren’t the most important thing to me. I finally realized that how I lived on earth was just as important as my salvation. God had me here for a reason, and it wasn’t just to play ball. It was then that the words of Matthew 16:26 really started to sink in: ‘And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?’"
“most of the failings of biblical leaders were spiritual rather than tactical. I needed to be prepared as much spiritually as I was in the Xs and Os.”
“Pain can be a highly effective instructor”
“When you can do the common things of life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.” George Washington Carver
“He didn't call me to be successful in the world's eyes; He called me to be faithful.”
“I coach football, But the good I can do to glorify God along the way is my real purpose.”
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
How Three College Kids Illegally Captured the Nation's First X-Ray Photograph [Techversaries] http://ping.fm/xOihI
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Saturday, January 08, 2011
Place: One of the Ten Most Significant Cultural Trends of the Last Decade : Andy Crouch http://ping.fm/RFIQK
Thursday, January 06, 2011
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Monday, January 03, 2011
Sunday, January 02, 2011
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every
prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. http://ping.fm/SPzH3
Building a community of grace
prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. http://ping.fm/SPzH3
Building a community of grace
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Building a community of grace http://ping.fm/WOuQk
Building a community of grace http://ping.fm/WOuQk
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