Photos: At the park
The winter was mild and summer's come early. We've had many days in the 80's already. I've uploaded a couple pictures of the kids at the park.
Spiritual Leadership
I have added a new paper to my list of point papers. It is a brief survey of ten selected passages that have implications and lessons for those who desire to be spiritual leaders.
Biographies
I've just finished reading two biographies, C.S. Lewis and D.L. Moody. Both are part of the "Heroes of the Faith" series published by Barbour Publishing. These are rather short books, only 200 pages or so, so they move quickly and give a nice overview of their lives. I enjoyed reading both; in fact, I enjoyed them so much I'm thinking about changing my name to J.P. Garriss.
Multi-generational Faithfulness
Got kids? Then you need to listen to two sermons by evangelist Voddie Baucham on multi-generational faithfulness. The gist of the sermon idea is this: how do parents pass their faith in Jesus on to their children?
To download the MP3 sermons, go to this church's website, scroll down and look for the two sermons entitled "multi-generational faithfulness." They are not listed right next to each other.
To download the MP3 sermons, go to this church's website, scroll down and look for the two sermons entitled "multi-generational faithfulness." They are not listed right next to each other.
Is church about technology?
In an interview with Church Production magazine, Chris Hinkle, the director of media engineering at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano TX, said:
"The pastors and leadership that realize that they are technically driven are the churches that are going to flourish, because people are technically driven. If they weren't, we wouldn't be watching the movies that we watch. People go to the movies to see the incredible effects. It's not so much the story line anymore; it's how exciting the movie is going to be. Technology is really driving a lot of the things in our society, and the church that embraces that - not to dilute the message, but to enhance the message - is a church that is going to move forward."
Three subtle mindsets concern me:
1) A church must be technically driven in order to flourish. Not driven by obedience to God's leading. Not driven by preaching the Word. Not driven by evangelism or missions or discipleship. Driven by technology. I agree that such a church might flourish numerically, but I wonder if it will flourish spiritually.
2) Church should be exciting. Movies are not about the story, they're about the excitement, and the implication is that church is the same way. It's not about worshipping God; it's about seeing how exciting the "Sunday morning show" is going to be. Church has become entertainment. Where do I buy a ticket?
3) The message of the cross can be enhanced, and in fact it needs to be enhanced. Oh my! This is dangerous. Paul said he would not enhance the message when he preached it (1 Cor 1:17, 2:1-1). Why? Because enhancing the message is the same as diluting it - it makes the cross of Christ powerless!
"The pastors and leadership that realize that they are technically driven are the churches that are going to flourish, because people are technically driven. If they weren't, we wouldn't be watching the movies that we watch. People go to the movies to see the incredible effects. It's not so much the story line anymore; it's how exciting the movie is going to be. Technology is really driving a lot of the things in our society, and the church that embraces that - not to dilute the message, but to enhance the message - is a church that is going to move forward."
Three subtle mindsets concern me:
1) A church must be technically driven in order to flourish. Not driven by obedience to God's leading. Not driven by preaching the Word. Not driven by evangelism or missions or discipleship. Driven by technology. I agree that such a church might flourish numerically, but I wonder if it will flourish spiritually.
2) Church should be exciting. Movies are not about the story, they're about the excitement, and the implication is that church is the same way. It's not about worshipping God; it's about seeing how exciting the "Sunday morning show" is going to be. Church has become entertainment. Where do I buy a ticket?
3) The message of the cross can be enhanced, and in fact it needs to be enhanced. Oh my! This is dangerous. Paul said he would not enhance the message when he preached it (1 Cor 1:17, 2:1-1). Why? Because enhancing the message is the same as diluting it - it makes the cross of Christ powerless!
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