this video has been out a while but i thought i would still share it today. i have heard this video used in a couple sermons. the second video is a follow up from penn. it shares his thoughts on the reception of this video. just for your knowledge the second video is rated r.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
service
the first church visited was saddleback. after hearing the sermon casper's reaction to it was something like this. "well it is good to hear about what i should do. but i would rather hear stories about how they are doing it."
stories of helping in the world will receive a better reaction then hearing directions on how to achieve it. i tend to agree that it is not hard to go find someone or some organization to help. i can think of a few places right of the top of my head with out referencing the yellow pages.
actions will always speak louder then words.
it is interesting however that later in the book that casper himself does not go out to his community and serve. he does expect the church to but the standard is different for himself. casper is an atheist, who says he does not have any beliefs. but believing in no God is a belief in and of itself. but not having a belief system entitles him to not have to help out others.
later in the book he says he might go serve in some capacity. but if he never does, we the church still have the responsibility to serve.
i ask myself on a somewhat regular basis, how can i bring people to Christ. as i am learning more and more it is not about bringing people to Christ but bringing Christ to the people. isnt that what Christ did by coming down to earth. he brought himself to the people.
i am reading another book now named "organic church" it is all about bringing the church to the people. starting churches in homes, coffee shops, bars, and any possible place where there are people who need Jesus. we need to become invested in the lives of the people.
i will finish this short blog with a quote from organic church. "every christian is a church planter, every home is a church, and every church is a training center." every thing about our lives need to transcend the love of God. how are we at living this out?
stories of helping in the world will receive a better reaction then hearing directions on how to achieve it. i tend to agree that it is not hard to go find someone or some organization to help. i can think of a few places right of the top of my head with out referencing the yellow pages.
actions will always speak louder then words.
it is interesting however that later in the book that casper himself does not go out to his community and serve. he does expect the church to but the standard is different for himself. casper is an atheist, who says he does not have any beliefs. but believing in no God is a belief in and of itself. but not having a belief system entitles him to not have to help out others.
later in the book he says he might go serve in some capacity. but if he never does, we the church still have the responsibility to serve.
i ask myself on a somewhat regular basis, how can i bring people to Christ. as i am learning more and more it is not about bringing people to Christ but bringing Christ to the people. isnt that what Christ did by coming down to earth. he brought himself to the people.
i am reading another book now named "organic church" it is all about bringing the church to the people. starting churches in homes, coffee shops, bars, and any possible place where there are people who need Jesus. we need to become invested in the lives of the people.
i will finish this short blog with a quote from organic church. "every christian is a church planter, every home is a church, and every church is a training center." every thing about our lives need to transcend the love of God. how are we at living this out?
Friday, June 26, 2009
insights from jim and casper go to church
jim and casper go to church
by jim henderson and matt casper
a book about two people, a christian and an atheist going to churches all over the united states. they write their observations about the church and their unlikely relationship.
i really suggest every pastor, christian, and atheist to read this book. anyone interested in the church would have a lot to take away from it.
casper, the atheist, has some great insights about relationships, service, transparency. it will only help the church if you take the time to read this book. i will try later to write a post on some quotes from the book.
by jim henderson and matt casper
a book about two people, a christian and an atheist going to churches all over the united states. they write their observations about the church and their unlikely relationship.
i really suggest every pastor, christian, and atheist to read this book. anyone interested in the church would have a lot to take away from it.
casper, the atheist, has some great insights about relationships, service, transparency. it will only help the church if you take the time to read this book. i will try later to write a post on some quotes from the book.
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
churches and the economy
the last few weeks i have heard some stories about some churches helping out different people during the rough times. i wanted to share what some of them are doing.
newspring church, pastor perry noble-- for mothers day gave away two paid off houses to two single mothers. the church purchased the two homes and fixed them up with volunteers from the church to bless the two families. this is something they do every mothers dsy.
12stone church, pastor kevin myers-- also for mothers day gave $50 to every single mom in the congregation and if anyone know a single mom they could take the gift for them as well.
mars hill church, pastor rob bell-- the church had an offering above regular giving to come up front and put money in the basket. if you needed money you could come up and take money out of the basket.
first of all, i want to applaud the churches because of their heart for helping out others. some of the gifts stand out to me because they seem to have put more effort into it. so it leads me to this, what has your church done? have you heard of any other churches that have helped out people during the economic downturn?
newspring church, pastor perry noble-- for mothers day gave away two paid off houses to two single mothers. the church purchased the two homes and fixed them up with volunteers from the church to bless the two families. this is something they do every mothers dsy.
12stone church, pastor kevin myers-- also for mothers day gave $50 to every single mom in the congregation and if anyone know a single mom they could take the gift for them as well.
mars hill church, pastor rob bell-- the church had an offering above regular giving to come up front and put money in the basket. if you needed money you could come up and take money out of the basket.
first of all, i want to applaud the churches because of their heart for helping out others. some of the gifts stand out to me because they seem to have put more effort into it. so it leads me to this, what has your church done? have you heard of any other churches that have helped out people during the economic downturn?
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
following Christ
assimilation is a term used by most churches to help bring people into the church body. assimilation can be defined as becoming like whatever you are being brought into. what is difficult here is are we trying to help people become like us or Christ?
i read an interesting illustration by one of my former professors dr. jim lo in his book intentional diversity.
there were missionaries to native americans and the told them “If you want to be good Christians, you need to… 1. cut your hair because good christians have short hair, 2. get rid of robes and wear pants, 3.get rid of sandals and wear shoes, because good christians do not show their toes in public and 4. build a church building, because good christians have a public meeting place. however when they had the grand opening of the church building they saw a picture of Jesus in long hair, wearing a robe and sandals and worshiping outside. this obviously confused the native americans, because everything they had been taught was to be more like Jesus but when they see Jesus, it looked more like their appearance before they changed.
how are we as the church leading? are we helping others to be like Christ or do we have our own perception of what a christian should look like? of course this is not just about mere appearance but also of the mind and heart. do you have any stories similar to that of the native americans to share?
i read an interesting illustration by one of my former professors dr. jim lo in his book intentional diversity.
there were missionaries to native americans and the told them “If you want to be good Christians, you need to… 1. cut your hair because good christians have short hair, 2. get rid of robes and wear pants, 3.get rid of sandals and wear shoes, because good christians do not show their toes in public and 4. build a church building, because good christians have a public meeting place. however when they had the grand opening of the church building they saw a picture of Jesus in long hair, wearing a robe and sandals and worshiping outside. this obviously confused the native americans, because everything they had been taught was to be more like Jesus but when they see Jesus, it looked more like their appearance before they changed.
how are we as the church leading? are we helping others to be like Christ or do we have our own perception of what a christian should look like? of course this is not just about mere appearance but also of the mind and heart. do you have any stories similar to that of the native americans to share?
Monday, March 02, 2009
100 people
F THE WORLD ONLY HAD 100 PEOPLE
Let us not be stopped by that which divides us but look for that which unites us
If we could reduce the world's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all existing human ratios remaining the same, the demographics would look something like this:
60 Asians 12 Europeans 5 US Americans and Canadians 8 Latin Americans 14 Africans
49 would be female 51 would be male
82 would be non-white 18 white
89 heterosexual 11 homosexual
33 would be Christian 67 would be non-Christian
a.. 5 would control 32% of the entire world's wealth, and all of them would be US citizens
a.. 80 would live in substandard housing
a.. 24 would not have any electricity (And of the 76% that do have electricity, most would only use it for light at night.)
a.. 67 would be unable to read
a.. 1 (only one) would have a college education.
a.. 50 would be malnourished and 1 dying of starvation
a.. 33 would be without access to a safe water supply
a.. 1 would have HIV
a.. 1 near death
a.. 2 would be near birth
a.. 7 people would have access to the Internet
Let us not be stopped by that which divides us but look for that which unites us
If we could reduce the world's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all existing human ratios remaining the same, the demographics would look something like this:
60 Asians 12 Europeans 5 US Americans and Canadians 8 Latin Americans 14 Africans
49 would be female 51 would be male
82 would be non-white 18 white
89 heterosexual 11 homosexual
33 would be Christian 67 would be non-Christian
a.. 5 would control 32% of the entire world's wealth, and all of them would be US citizens
a.. 80 would live in substandard housing
a.. 24 would not have any electricity (And of the 76% that do have electricity, most would only use it for light at night.)
a.. 67 would be unable to read
a.. 1 (only one) would have a college education.
a.. 50 would be malnourished and 1 dying of starvation
a.. 33 would be without access to a safe water supply
a.. 1 would have HIV
a.. 1 near death
a.. 2 would be near birth
a.. 7 people would have access to the Internet
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