Be Careful…Really?
I have recently committed to being more ‘missional’ in my everyday ministry. Each Wednesday I spend my office time at a local coffee shop where I enjoy connecting with a few friends consistently, meeting new friends from my church, and also engaging with people in my community. This has been very rewarding and since I’ve made the decision to make this a priority in my weekly schedule I’m beginning to see the world around me through a new and different set of eyeglasses.
Recently my friend and I met a guy named Mike. He was looking for directions to the library and asked us for help as we sat at a table under the umbrella outside of the sandwich shop. He needed to use a cell phone to call for a ride so I let him use my iPhone…, “sure, no problem, use mine,” I said. Within 5 minutes he was sitting with us sharing part of his story. At age twenty he was working on his GED and struggling with ADHD. He said, “I’m tired of getting high, I want to get my life on the right track.” We had a few short minutes to share with him before his ride showed up, we let Mike know that he was welcome to join us at church on Sunday, and then I gave him my contact information so he could call or email anytime. He put my card in his folder and said, “maybe my girlfriend would be interested in talking too.” I don’t know where Mike is today but I do know that God had us there for a reason that day and I’m confident that our short conversation will someday have a positive result for the kingdom of God. Read the rest of this entry »
How Not To Make Disciples
A great reminder about making disciples…it’s what “Jesus says” to do.
Francis Chan – Making Disciples from Verge Network on Vimeo.
Verge Missional Community Conference 2010 Main Session
Francis Chan: Making Disciples vs Memorizing
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Get Out Of The Jar
Do you view church as only a Sunday morning experience? How about worship? Are you a daily worshiper? I’m feeling compelled to offer this challenge as you read this blog entry – consider being the church outside of the church walls, be a daily worshiper, start relationships with people outside of your routine church experience, and so on. Watch the following video and don’t get restricted by “the lid”… questions – let me know! -B
Psalm 103 & 10,000 Reasons
We’ll be learning a new song at Harvest on Sunday, May 6th. Read Psalm 103 before and after you watch/listen to this video.
Creation Scale Perspective
My friend, Craig, sent me a link to this very cool web application. When you go to this website it will take about 30 seconds to “load”, then you can have some fun zooming in/out to gain perspective on the size of our universe. It’s truly amazing to see how God’s creation is so beautiful and fascinating…it’s simply miraculous. This is a reminder to to me about having a worshipful attitude everyday. I don’t know anything about the people who developed this site, but I’m grateful for their insight and ability to convey science in a way that is fun and easy to understand. -PB
Click on an image below to go to the site.
All Alone In The Night – Our World
A twitter post came to me with a link to this YouTube video which I found this very interesting. It looks like this was compiled from a series of still shots and made to look like video footage…however it’s done, I think it’s amazing to watch!
Google Glasses
This is so cool…
Used Tire, New Friend
It’s my day off. The grass in my yard is way too long and my lawn mower is broken, so I loaded it in the van and took it to my mechanic on the outskirts of town. I called him twice, tried his cell number and his home number but he didn’t answer…was he in the shop or maybe on vacation? I decided to take the mower to his shop anyway and leave it by the door – I also needed to stop at the office and do some paperwork so I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone.
On my way out of the church parking lot (yep, got my paperwork done) I drove past a man carrying a tire as he walked on the side of the highway – the church is a little more than two miles from town. I decided to turn around and ask him if he wanted a ride. I felt the Holy Spirit nudging me to at least offer, even if he were to say no I was compelled to extend a helping hand to this stranger on the side of the highway.
“Hey, would you like a ride to town?” He looked surprised and replied, “sure, but the tire has water in it.” “No, problem,” I said as I opened the back of the van. I shook most of the water out of the tire and placed it on the blanket that I had lined the van with because of taking my mower to the mechanic. It turns out that my new friend had walked over three miles to a salvage yard to buy a used tire for his car, which was parked at a convenience store in town. I just couldn’t let him walk another three miles carrying a tire.
We had a good talk while I drove him to his car. After dropping him off I noticed that his spare tire was also flat – he had no way to drive his car to get the tire fixed – so I offered him another ride to the tire shop and he was very gracious to accept my help. During our conversation I mentioned, casually, that I was a pastor at the church near the location where I picked him up. As we were driving to the tire repair shop he quietly and humbly asked for me to ‘say a prayer’ for him because I was a pastor. God was providing an open door, an chance to really speak into this person’s life and I was grateful for this opportunity!
I told him I would be glad to pray for him and I asked him to tell me his story. His name is John and he has an autistic son who is 8 years old. He also has a wife who had been hospitalized for several weeks. She’s currently as a special hospital in another city to receive treatment for heart failure. Everyday his son travels to a school in another city too. So, here’s a hard working guy with an autistic son who travels nearly an hour, one way, to school and back each day, his wife is sick and hospitalized in a city about an hour in the other direction, and he’s walking for miles to fix a flat tire – this guy was having bad day.
I was impressed with John’s attitude. He said it was a bad day but “tomorrow would be better.” Wow, sometimes we can learn so many good things from strangers, if only we would take the time to say hello and let them teach us.
I prayed with John in the parking lot of the tire repair shop and I gave him my name and number in case he needs somebody to talk to in the future. I don’t know where this will go but I’m glad to have made a friend for the day and maybe I will get another chance to get to know him and his family, God only knows the answer to that. Perhaps I entertained an angel today? I doubt it, but you never know. I also glad that God’s timing is perfect. It’s not everyday that I have a blanket in the back of my van (made it easy to put a dirty tire in the van) and now I know why I decided to drop off my mower even though my mechanic was not at his shop, this allowed me the opportunity to learn from John and pray for him – I hope God works a miracle in his life!
As you are done reading this please pray for John, Tracy, and Alexander – they need your prayers. I trust that God will provide them strength and comfort as they struggle through life’s challenges.
Cadre Ministries – What Is Your Great Obsession?
My friends at Cadre Ministries have great materials and conduct awesome training workshops on disciplemaking. Here’s a recent article from their website. -PB
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A woman was sipping on a glass of wine while sitting on the patio with her husband. She said, “I love you so much, I don’t know how I could ever live without you.”
Her husband asked, “Is that you, or the wine talking?”
She replied, “It’s me… and I’m talking to the wine.”
What is it that you can’t live without? What is your great obsession?
When I read the New Testament, I get the overwhelming sense that Jesus’ disciples were obsessed with Jesus. I know a lot of people who like Jesus. I know many who claim they love Jesus. But to be honest, I know very few people who seem to be obsessed with Jesus.
Are you obsessed with Jesus?
To find out why this is so important to disciplemaking, keep reading. Read the rest of this entry »
That’s My King
At church today, in 10-25 Place, we watched a well-know video featuring the words of the late Dr. SM Lockridge. While we’ve shared different versions of this video, it still inspires. Here’s the transcript that I found related to that video. Enjoy! -PB
The Bible says my King is a seven-way King:
He’s the King of the Jews – that’s a racial King.
He’s the King of Israel – that’s a national King.
He’s the King of Righteousness.
He’s the King of the Ages.
He’s the King of Heaven.
He’s the King of Glory.
He’s the King of kings and He’s the Lord of lords.
That’s my King.
Well, I wonder do you know Him. Read the rest of this entry »