God at Work

See below post from Sunday, Oct. 19.

Update: I can't give you numbers, but God is already doing some amazing stuff. The stories we've heard, the people who have made commitments and just mailed them in early, are already just getting me so excited. I'm blown away already. This Sunday we obviously aren't going to be giving numbers, but it is going to be a great time of wrapping up this series, handing in our pledge cards, and celebrating our commitment together to the future of Grace Fellowship. Make plans to be there, peeps. Cancel or postpone your Sunday plans if they don't include church. God wants you to worship HIM first.

Blogging takes so much Energy

I think it's because I have so much swimming around in my head these days, and messing me up, that if I start writing about it, It'll be so long that no one will read it. Here's why: currently watching How to Be Rich by Andy Stanley and reading Crazy Love by Chan, the chapters about how salt that loses it's saltiness (matt 6) is not even worth putting on a manure pile, and how Jesus wants to vomit when he sees lukewarm Christians. This is why I didn't get much sleep last night.

A Question for You

Got this idea from another blogger and turned out some incredible results in comments:

When's the last time you did something dangerous?

Piper on Job

It seems this week already that I'm hearing a few stories of people struggling, mostly with their finances and provision in our tough economic times, but also with health. Check out just a tiny bit of what John Piper has said about the book of Job and suffering.

God-sized Sunday

Every Sunday night I've started to learn to wait for a twitter from Perry Noble that sounds just like this one from tonight: "Amazing day at NewSpring Church...trying to wrap my mind around all that happened today!" I love that the staff at Newspring is always looking to what God has for them next.

We're in the middle of some big stuff at Grace too. Today we handed out pledge cards, as Mike boldly spoke about being rich toward God and being willing to make sacrifices. Over the next two weeks, would you pray and expect with us that two weeks from now, we won't be able to wrap our minds around all that God is doing and will do through our church?

Check Out Thirdmill.org

Catching up with one of my professors at RTS, through Facebook, reminded me to check out the ministry he founded a number of years ago, that has continued to grow and expand around the world in its impact. Thirdmill has a very specific mission statement, and I love it: "Third Millennium Ministries' mission is to equip church leaders in their own lands by creating a multimedia seminary curriculum in five major languages in fifteen years."

Why is this such a beneficial and important ministry? Because those seeking to shepherd the flock of Jesus need to be careful to know God's Word. Seminary exists as one avenue for those seeking ministry to be guided and educated in their understanding of God's Word. I could get into a long sidetrack about the discussion between those who insist seminary isn't necessary for effective ministry because most seminaries are no longer relevant, and those who believe Seminary is vital because without it there's greater danger of error being taught, but I won't. My Seminary education was very valuable for me, but there's so much I didn't know, and am still learning now that I'm actually IN full time ministry. For example, I learned a lot about preaching and got some pretty good practice at it under teachers like Steve Brown, but probably the most valuable tool for me to hone my skills in my specific setting at Grace has been Andy Stanley's book Communicating for a Change.

Anyway, Thirdmill is bringing what I believe to be solid, Biblical teaching into a format that is probably the most accessible I've ever heard of. One could easily get a Seminary education through Thirdmill for a tiny fraction of what it cost me. And since, as I'm learning this month that I'm one of the richest people in the world simply because I own a house, I think it's important to have quality teaching available to those across the world who can't afford to come and go to Seminary for 3-4 years. It's clear that effective foreign mission work seeks to resource and support those who already believe within their respective communities. Thirdmill is a great place for Christians to begin to know the Word of God and what it says, to have a faith that is informed. For everyone, there are a ton of free resources online...check it out!

You'll Thank Me Later...

This is one of the most crazy, ridiculous things I've ever seen on youtube, and there is some wacky stuff on Youtube. The English lyrics add another layer to the whole thing. Turn it up!





GolimAAAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!!