Anyone out there have any solid resources on small groups/community groups/life groups/interest groups/”insert your favorite nomenclature here” groups? I ordered a couple of books tonight, but looking for more. Looking for philosophy/theology/etc.
Just trying to inform myself.
Any help is appreciated.
A few weeks ago Mark Batterson offered to send copies of In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day
I don’t want to simply rehash the book here, so I want to hit the highlights that really gritted into my spirit.
??A sense of destiny is our birthright as followers of Christ. God is awfully good at getting us where he wants to go. But here’s the catch: The right place often seems like the wrong place, and the right time often seems like the wrong time.?? (p. 12)
2 Samuel 23:23 David wanted Beniah as his chief bodyguard because David was the original lion chaser. Lion chaser recognize their own and understand that lion chasers do what needs to be done, even when facing a 500 pound lion.
??God wants you to get where God wants you more than you want to get where God wants you to go.?? (p. 30) Searching for the will of God is a hot topic in Christian circles. A lot of people get really wound up trying to figure out where God wants them to go, but I think they really do lost sight of the fact that God wants His will for us even more than we do.
There are only two fears that we are born with: The fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. We learn the rest as we go. If fears can be learned, they can be unlearned. Faith is the process of unlearning fears.
??Maybe prayer is less about changing our circumstances than it is changing our perspective. Most of our problems aren’t the byproduct of our circumstances but of our perspective on our circumstances. Maybe we need to quit praying safe prayers.?? (p. 65)
You can’t plan Pentacost. ??But what if instead of spending all our energy on making plans for God, we spent the energy seeking God??? (p. 82)
??Lion chasers are humble enough to let God call the shots and brave enough to follow where he leads.?? (p. 99)
Sinking is better than sitting. Get out of the boat.
Criticize by creating.
Survival mode is reactive, prayer mode is proactive. The choice is yours, but living in reactive mode your entire life gets really tiring after awhile.
Being willing to fail is a prerequisite for success.
Faith is willing to look foolish. Even though it might look like it, doing God’s will is never foolish.
Know who you are and who you are not. Wouldn’t you rather be disliked for who you are than liked for who you are not?
??I’m afraid that our version of Christlikeness is way too civilized and sanitized.?? (p. 153) CAN I GET AN AMEN! Truthfully, it was coming to the realization that Christianity doesn’t have to be Churchianity that opened my heart to yearning to serve in a ministry role again. Mark and NCC were instrumental in helping me discover this.
??If you run away from the lion, you’ll one day realize that you’re really running away from yourself ?? and God.?? (p. 169) Been there, done that. Not going back.
Carpe Feline.
This is an excellent book that is sure to have an impact on throngs of people. Coincidentally, I was finishing up reading this book when I had lunch with a friend who keeps trying to get me to come minister at the church he serves in. I found myself wondering if this wasn’t one of my lions. I know what some of the others are. Two of them are already taking place in my life. I am excited to grab life by the mane and see where God is going to take me (and us)! If you want to pick up a copy, click the link in this post or on the sidebar. It is 11 bucks well spent!
Carpe Feline.
Why is it that polling places are either in schools or churches? The school part I get, the church part not so much. Why do people push so hard for the separation of church and state, but then hold elections for public office inside church buildings? It isn’t as if there is any evangelism going on, but it just seems to go against what those who stand against the church are for.
Just a random thought on this day when hopefully you hexercisedized your civil liberties.
Saw a ‘mini-commercial’ a few minutes ago. Thou Shalt Laugh
Just thought I would utilize the features of my new laptop. Or maybe I am trying to be like Scott. Who knows? If anyone wants to teleconference, please have your people call my people. Thanks.
On a side note…doing some great reading. Started a new class today, Biblical Perspectives of Worship. Should be an awesome five weeks. To top it all off, the world famous Mayo Clinic will be footing the bill for the rest of my education, including grad school. Not a bad deal if you ask me! Experiential Worship
If you have been watching the news or reading any media in the past few days, you have undoubtedly had some contact with the gigantic story concerncing Ted Haggard. Ted started New Life Church in Colorado Springs that has exploded to about 14,000 members. Ted has also served as the President of the National Association of Evangelicals for some time. I don’t want to spend any time recounting the allegations and actions involved in the recent newsbreak concerning Ted, but simply want to urge you to prayer and point you to the NAE site which gives an amazing response concerning these events. Click on either of the above links to read a powerful letter.
A couple of things:
Please be in prayer for Ted, his family, his church family and the dude who brought this all on. There are some pretty serious issues being dealt with and all involved are going to be rocked for some time to come. The grace that I have seen extended in this sitation so far is simply outstanding and can only hope that it continues. The brothers of the blogosphere have really been kind and Godly during this time when there is plenty of bashing going on.
Two: Pray for your leaders. Leadership doesn’t come without a price and most often that price is serious attacks by the Devil. Whatever your feelings are on spiritual warfare, cases like this are evidence that there are forces battling against that which is good. Pray for you pastors and leaders, encourage them to surround themselves with the protection that is needed in times of battle.
For further reading go
churchrelevance.com ? The 411 on Culture
This article is a pretty stinkin sweet one. Church Relevance is really on the cutting edge of all things related to what is happening in the church as a whole right now and also how we can either redeem those things for the Kingdom or make something better.
Check out the article, especially if you are a church planter.
Peace.
