The Settlers of Catan

January 31, 2009 — 0 Comments

Last night, Krista and I held a Game Night at our apartment community as The CARES Team.  Most of our events of late have been more family / holiday oriented, and we wanted to try to put something on to reach and serve people that may not be completely excited about those kind of events.

Some of our residents have a great affinity, appreciation, and knowledge of boardgames (one even works for a boardgame company).  Tonight, we were introduced to The Settlers of Catan.  I might describe it as one part Oregon Trail with two parts Risk.

We had a blast.  When was the last time you turned off the TV and played a board game?  What game was it?
In personal

Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church on Nightline

January 30, 2009 — 0 Comments

I have friends on every side of the different opinions regarding Mark, and while I disagree with him on some theological points, I have a ton of respect for him. Love him or hate him, he is playing a prominent role in shaping men and pastors in our generation. Here’s an interview he did recently on Nightline.

In culture, leadership, theology

Funding Your Ministry

January 29, 2009 — 0 Comments

This book was the required reading and our text for the support raising bootcamp I attended this week.

In church planting, you’re told of the importance of fundraising.  Some associations and groups won’t even talk to you until you’ve raised x amount of dollars.
And yet, I’ve found that there’s very little help as to the “how” of fundraising and support raising.  This book stands in that gap, and I think, does an incredible job explaining the benefits and methods best used in support raising.
The proof will be in the next couple of months as I seek to put it into action, but I can say that the study of Biblical support in the appendix is worth the price of the book alone.  I had never looked, passage by passage, at what the Bible says about living off of support.  This gave me a much better understanding and foundation to begin with.
If you’re starting a new church, or a non-profit, or you’re planning on going into the mission field, get this book.  The cartoons and illustrations are lame, but the content is pure gold.
In book reviews, church

Crazy Love

January 29, 2009 — 0 Comments

Okay.  Full disclosure.  I never read this book.  I just finished a road trip to Dallas for some training and purchased the audio book before I left.  So I didn’t read it.  I listened to it.

That feels better now that it’s off of my chest.  I can tell you that I really enjoyed this book.  There’s something special that happens when you stop and remember how awe-inspiring God is, and Francis Chan is especially gifted at persuading us to do just that.
There were a few quotes that even while driving down the road, I noted the point on the iPod where he said it.
  • I quickly found out that the American church is a difficult place to fit in if you want to live out New Testament Christianity.
  • Some people claim that we can become Christians without necessarily becoming disciples.  I wonder, then, why the last thing Jesus told us was to go into the world making disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey all that he commanded.  You’ll notice that he didn’t add, “but hey, if that’s too much to ask, just tell them to become Christians.  You know, the people who get to go to heaven, without having to commit to anything.”
  • This place of trust isn’t a comfortable place to be.  In fact, it flies in the face of everything we’ve been taught about proper planning.  We like finding refuge in what we already have rather than what we hope God will provide.
  • I wrote this book because much of our talk doesn’t match our lives.  We say things like, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” and “trust in the Lord with all your heart,” then we live and plan like we don’t believe God even exists.  We try to set up our lives so that everything will be fine even if God doesn’t come through.  But true faith means holding nothing back.
In book reviews, church, theology

Bootcamp for Personal Fundraising

January 26, 2009 — 0 Comments

Over the next two days, I’ll be attending a personal fundraising bootcamp put on by www.thebodybuilders.net During this time, I’m hoping to better equip myself to raise the support necessary for my family to continue planting a new church in Austin.

While I expect the next two days to be intense, I would venture to say that in my preparation I have spent more time studying Biblical support raising than I ever had previously.  Striving to come to a better understanding and knowledge of what it entails, I have prayed that God would equip me to care for my family, and to raise the necessary funding for the church.
Would you, right now, pray for me as I do this?  Would you also ask God if he is calling you to give to his mission and his church, that just so happens to be in Austin?
Thanks.
In leadership, personal

Writing President Obama’s Inauguration Prayer

January 25, 2009 — 0 Comments

I had a feeling this is how it went down.

This conference changed my life and my ministry (in that order). If you’re in student ministry and can find a way to get there, go. I highly, highly recommend it.  Go to www.pdymcommunity.com for more information.

In culture

Brian Head Welch’s Story

January 24, 2009 — 0 Comments

I wonder how many churches would have flinched when this guy came to visit for the first time. Check out this very moving story from Brian “Head” Welch.

www.iamsecond.com

In culture, theology

Gym Rats and Church Mice: The Newbie

January 23, 2009 — 0 Comments

The newbie looks the same, even if the last thing we want to label them as is a “newbie.”  Most gyms and churches would deem them to be guests.  They have not been there many times before (perhaps never before), and it shows.  They don’t know the culture or the manner in which things are done.

Maybe they don’t know how to properly use the weight machines.  Perhaps they do weird things with the cables like spinning their arms in circles with 60 pounds of weights.  Or, in some churches, they carry their coffee inside the worship area, sit in a seat that is usually occupied by someone else, or they do not know to stand during the music.
Whatever they do, or do not do, it is important that those in the environments, be it the gym or especially the church, realize that we they have something to offer the guests – kindness and courtesy.  They have the potential to help the first-timer come to love the church, and embrace the community of faith, or to respond disdainfully.  They have the potential to sway the guest’s opinion of Christ, simply by the way they act towards them.
The truth of the matter is this: if there are not some first-time guests at your gym or at your church, it is dying.  It may seem and feel healthy.  It may be vibrant on the inside, but if it does not draw outsiders in, it will cease to be.  Tragically, I’ve seen both gyms and churches close their doors for this very reason.
We need first-time guests.  What do you do in order to help them acclimate to their new surroundings?  What can you do differently?
What other parallels can you think of regarding the different kind of people that walk through our doors?
In church, culture

Gym Rats and Church Mice: The Work in Progress

January 22, 2009 — 0 Comments

In the gym, this person is not near as polished as some others.  They have an issue occasionally indulging in the wrong foods, doing their workouts a little incorrectly, and missing some days due to misplaced priorities.  But every day they enter the gym doors, they bust their butt, working as diligently as they can to better themselves.  No one will mistake them for fitness models, but each week, their progress is visible for any to see.

In the church, this person doesn’t fit the profile exactly.  They’re Christian, to be sure, but they’re still rough around the edges.  Occasionally, they slip and fall back into sin.  They’re knowledge of Biblical stories is limited at best, but their hearts thirst for God.  They’re works in progress.  They are changed lives that continue changing each day, developing a heart of Christ.
They can be encouraged – and must be – by believers further along the journey than they are.  Paul wrote:

And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again. Philippians 1:6 (NLT)

Paul encouraged those in process.  We should do the same.  And as we do, perhaps we’d be honest long enough to admit that we’re all still works in progress.
In church, culture

Gym Rats and Church Mice: The Superhero

January 21, 2009 — 0 Comments

We have no idea when the superhero first started working out.  He has picutres of when he was grossly overweight, but no one can remember when exactly that was because they have only seen him as this perfect physical speciman.  He lifts weights daily and finishes each and every workout with a 5 mile run on the treadmill, during which he doesn’t sweat a drop.  He’s never been seen eating anything unhealthy, but instead always kissing on a bottle of water or protein drink throughout the day.

In the church, the superhero looks a little differently.  They’re the best looking person at church, usually wearing the most popular, current Christian clothing, drinking they’re Christian coffee while dropping their perfect 2.4 children off at the children’s ministry.  They’re incredibly nice and caring, and no one really has anything negative to say about them.  And yet they appear distant for some reason.
The tragic danger for the superhero is this: they’ve been perfect and lived so wonderfully for so long that they simply can’t comprehend what it’s like not to have the perfect life.  There is a disconnect.  They don’t have much sympathy or compassion for anyone unable to live to the same standard that they live.
It’s an amazing thing that they’re living such a transformed life.  There is no shame in that, in fact it is to their credit and to the glory of God that their lives are so distinct.  However, the superhero must make a more intentional effort to connect with those living in a different manner.
In church, culture
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