Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Business Insights from the Mountain
Monday, August 30, 2010
Walker Percy: Twenty Years Later
"Read some Percy. Then thank God for the good doctor’s reminder to us that even when there is a wasteland everywhere around us, there is love in the ruins still." - Russel D. Moore
a good little blog post about one of my favorite writers, Walker Percy.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Brad Sherrill's New Show "PROPHETS"
I've seen Brad's performance of the Gospel of John which was amazing, and am hoping to see this show soon. If you have the opportunity consider seeing one of Brad's performances, or invite him to your Church. You can find him at www.gospelofjohn.com/
Friday, August 20, 2010
Reflecting on New York
There is one point, almost to be called a paradox, to be noted about New York; and that in one sense it is really new…in the sense that it is always being renewed. For New York considered in itself is primarily a place of unrest, and those who sincerely love it, as many do, love it for the romance of its restlessness.
G.K. Chesterton
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Our century’s greatest injustice: Sheryl WuDunn on TED.com
Avoiding momentum
Some days, even the best dentist doesn't feel like being a dentist.
And a lifeguard might not feel like being a lifeguard.
Fortunately, they have appointments, commitments and jobs. They have to show up. They have to start doing the work. And most of the time, this jump start is sufficient to get them over the hump, and then they go back to being in the zone and doing their best work.
Momentum is incredibly useful to someone who has to overcome fear, dig in deep and ship. Momentum gives you a reason to overcome your fear and do your art, because there are outside forces and obligations that keep you moving. Without them, you'd probably stumble and fall.
And yet...
And yet many of us fear too much momentum. We look at a project launch or a job or another new commitment as something that might get out of control. It's one thing to be a folk singer playing to a hundred people a night in a coffeehouse, but what if the momentum builds and you become a star? A rock star? With an entourage and appearances and higher than high expectations for your next work. That's a lot of momentum, no?
Deep down, this potential for an overwhelming response alerts the lizard brain and we hold back. We're afraid of being part of something that feels like it might be too big for us.
Hint: it probably isn't.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Taliban Kill 10 on Medical Aid Mission in Afghanistan
The bodies from the group, which had been on an expedition to bring eye care and other medical services to remote areas, were found shot to death in a mountainous area of Badakhshan Province, according to the provincial police chief, Aka Noor Kentoz.
The International Assistance Mission, a group that last month had a fund-raiser in Kabul for a medical expedition to Nuristan Province, said six of the dead were Americans, one was German and one was British. Dirk Frans, the executive director of the I.A.M., said the team was headed by Tom Little, an American opthamologist with four decades experience in Afghanistan and a fluent Dari speaker. Mr. Frans said the team numbered 12, including four Afghans, two of whom were killed. (READ FULL ARTICLE BY CLICKING LINK BELOW)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/world/asia/08afghan.html
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Preparing for Ministry
Disengaged intellectualism is undoubtedly a danger for those spending a season in full-time study in the belief that God is calling them into pastoral ministry. We’ll latch on to anything besides Jesus for security and significance, even learning about Jesus. And as Piper recently reminded us so wisely, the overlap between what is learned in most PhD programs and what is needed in ministry is minimal.
But I find instructive the following statements about the value of study–statements from (or about) men who led lives and ministries that were anything but arid academic pontification.
Augustine:
[S]uch is the depth of the Christian Scriptures that, even if I were attempting to study them and nothing else, from boyhood to decrepit old age, with the umost leisure, the most unwearied zeal, and with talents greater than I possess, I would still be making progress in discovering their treasures. (quoted in Peter Brown, Augustine of Hippo, 263)
Samuel Miller, commenting on Jonathan Edwards’ 1723 decision to return to Yale as an academic tutor after a brief New York pastorate:
Many a nice young man since, as well as before his time, of narrow views and crude knowledge, has rushed into the pastoral office with scarcely any of that furniture which enables the shepherd of souls ‘rightly to divide the word of truth’; but Jonathan Edwards, with a mind of superior grasp and penetration, and with attainments already greater than common, did not think three full years of diligent professional study enough to prepare him for this arduous charge, until, after his collegiate graduation, he had devoted six years to close and appropriate study. (quoted in Iain Murray, Jonathan Edwards, 56)
Donald Grey Barnhouse (pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church from 1927-1960):
If I only had three years to serve the Lord, I would spend two of them studying and preparing. (quoted in John Stott, Your Mind Matters, 55)
Billy Graham, to a gathering of 600 pastors in London in 1979:
I’ve preached too much and studied too little. (quoted in John Stott, Between Two Worlds, 181)
