Saturday Links
The first man hears the music and all his actions are in response to and expressive of the music that he hears. The deaf man is only imitating the outward actions. As a result he doesn’t enjoy it much, he might not keep it up very long and he will never really do it as well as the one who hears the music.
The point of the analogy is to illustrate an important truth about the Christian life.
Perhaps we’ve forgotten that pastoral ministry is war and that you’ll never live successfully in the pastorate if you live with a peacetime mentality … It’s fought on the ground of the pastor’s heart. It’s a war of values, allegiances, and motivations.
Any way you slice it the idea of church planting is often either misunderstood or, literally, unheard of … The following are seven guiding principles that drive church planting, in general, and are driving us, in particular, to plant a new church in the heart of the city of Seattle.
“[My hope and prayer] is that we shall see the great Head of the Church once more bring into being His special certain young men whom He may use in his glorious employ. And what manner of men will they be?…”
We were uncool. We really did need some refreshing in our music and communication, and so forth. But there was also something real and solid and powerful there. We must never lose it.
The Precarious Promise of Pragmatism
Don’t fall into the trap of making numerical growth the goal, but don’t fall into the other ditch of being satisfied with little to no fruit. Instead, examine what the Scripture teaches about fruitfulness. Then, think like a missionary. Find the best ways to share the gospel in your context. Ask tough questions. Trust God to work.
My pastoral confidentiality policy
Confidentiality is important but it is not absolute. It is neither wise nor helpful to allow anyone to bind one’s conscience unconditionally. I assume that you are seeking my counsel because you trust my judgment. My practice of confidentiality is governed by that same judgment.
Explaining My Wedding Ceremony Contract
A germ of an idea came to mind: What if one were to put into place a simple financial contract alongside the marriage contract? You couldn’t force people to stay married, but you could at least add some incentive perhaps to make them work a little harder at avoiding a divorce.
When we lost every dollar we owned
We began again. But this time with a more vivid personal awareness that God is able.
