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Archives For May 2011

What did Paul look for in a leader?

May 31, 2011 — Leave a comment

Kenny Silva:

Virtually all of the leaders I know take on many different roles in their churches and organizations. On Sunday morning, he may be a prophet; standing in front of the congregation and teaching the Word. Afterward, he or she becomes the priest; speaking with and counseling hurting members of the flock. During the week, he or she becomes the hard laborer, fighting to build an organization that lasts.

In the process of wearing so many different hats and doing so many different things, we can easily lose focus. I’ve learned an invaluable set of lessons from Paul’s 2nd letter to Timothy. These lessons have to do with the roles and traits that we need to focus on in order to be most effective. You can find the entire text in 2 Timothy Chapter 2.

Check out the 7 here.

What do you think? What do you look for in a leader?

In leadership, theology
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The Normans are Moving

May 29, 2011 — 6 Comments

God has been so good to us here in Kansas. It has been my honor to serve these past 19 months as the Lead Pastor of Crossroads Friends Church, and I have grown close to many new friends and families here. And sadly, that time has now come to an end.

Several months ago, God began working in my heart – pressing on my soul that I needed to return and finish my seminary training. I could not escape that calling. And I applied for acceptance to seminary with the full intention of taking courses online until God opened the door for me to attend in person.

Over the course of the last few weeks, that door began to creak open until it was clear that God was leading me in that direction. It was with a heavy heart that I shared this with our elders, and announced it to our church this morning at Crossroads.

We will be leaving Kansas, headed back to Texas, with the intention of pursuing an M.Div. at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.

I covet your prayers for our church.

I covet your prayers for our family.

I covet your prayers that in this time of transition, God would receive the glory and that his blessing would be upon us all.

In personal
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Disappointment vs. Discontentment

May 27, 2011 — Leave a comment

Dave Harvey:

“When God acts contrary to our will, disappointment is understandable. But when our desires go unfulfilled and disappointment begins to define us, something else is afoot. It’s called discontentment.”

Rescuing Ambition

In theology
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How Dangerous is Sitting All Day [Infographic]

May 26, 2011 — Leave a comment

Click for Full-Size Image

HT: James

In personal
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My MUST HAVE iPhone apps list for pastors

May 25, 2011 — Leave a comment

The reality is that you don’t have to have an iPhone to be a good pastor, but it helps. And while I say that with a huge smile on my face and with my tongue firmly in cheek, many of us are big iPhone users. So I have a question,

What are the “must have” apps for pastors?

TeuxDeux: If you’re notoriously disorganized, this will help you get stuff done!

Facebook: Look, if you’re not on facebook yet, then I can’t help you (but a large majority of young adults use facebook more than email, you might want to be available in that arena.

Gowalla and/or FourSquare: Let your church know when and where you are in public. Don’t be surprised if they want to grab some coffee with you.

Starbucks Mobile Card: Speaking of coffee, how could you live without this?

ESV Study +: I preach from the ESV, and let’s be honest, the ESV Study Bible is a little large to lug around. This gets me all of the study notes on my iPhone. That’s a huge win!

YouVersion: And you have to give YouVersion their props.

Evernote: Notes, clips, anything and everything you need to help your brain is here.

Dropbox: Anything you store in this folder on your computer, you have access to on your iPhone. I always have a copy of my sermon notes on dropbox for the off chance that I forget my printed notes or spill coffee on them.

CardMunch: CardMunch has been one of my favorite secrets for some time now. You take a picture of a business card and it sends it to a human who transcribes all of the contact information for you. Once they get back to you (usually less than an hour), you can save that contact to your address book and you’re golden. NOTE: Recently, they joined up with LinkedIn and require an account for their services. The good news is that while it’s annoying to be required to use LinkedIn, both services (LinkedIn and CardMunch) are free, so the only cost is having to sign up.

Bump: Exchange almost anything (contact information, pictures, etc.) instantly and immediately just by “bumping” two iPhones together.

Droid User?

Or maybe you’re a droid user (though I can’t imagine why). If that’s the case, shoot me an email in a similar format as the above post of your MUST HAVE apps for Droid and I’ll be glad to post that article as well.

What am I forgetting? What would you add to the list?

The beauty of this community is that we’re all learning on the go. So, if you’ve discovered an app that you not only couldn’t live without, but wouldn’t want to, please share it in the comments.

In tech
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John Piper on Gay Marriage

May 25, 2011 — Leave a comment

In the 2012 Minnesota ballot, voters will be asked to consider the question, “Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to provide that only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota?” As a result, prominent pastor and theologian John Piper added his thoughts on the issue to the Desiring God blog in order to assist Christians in Minnesota in thinking through such a vote.

1. There is no such thing as so-called “gay marriage.”

Except in a sentence like this one, I don’t think we should use the term “gay marriage” or “same-sex marriage.” I think in our everyday discourse, we should say “so-called gay marriage” or “so-called same sex marriage.” I would encourage politicians, pastors, and people to adopt this simple habit.

The reason is that in God’s eyes, there simply is no such thing as so-called “gay marriage.” It does not exist. It cannot be made to exist by desires or decisions or language or laws. God ordained marriage with the words: “A man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). Marriage is the union of a man and a woman in a lifelong covenant as husband and wife.

Humans don’t create or define marriage. God does. Not all humans believe this. But those who do, should not use the term “marriage” to refer to any other relationship than the one God ordains.

Read his other thoughts here.

In culture
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Any other doctrine…

May 24, 2011 — Leave a comment

Martin Luther:

“Whatever doctrine teaches anything other than that we are all sinners and are justified only by faith in Christ must be false, wicked, blasphemous, accursed, and devilish; and so are those who either teach it or accept it.”

The Crossway Classic Commentaries: Galatians by Martin Luther

In theology
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Working from Home

May 24, 2011 — Leave a comment

So true!

In culture
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Semper Reformada

May 23, 2011 — Leave a comment

Anytime you read a book, you should definitely check out the footnotes. It’s been my experience that one often finds incredible insights that otherwise, they would have completely missed. In Why We’re Not Emergent, Kevin DeYoung gives tremendous insight into what it means to be semper reformada or “always reforming.”

As D.A. Carson has pointed out, emerging church leaders, unlike the Reformers, are calling for change because the culture has moved. The Reformers, by contrast, were calling for change because the church had moved away from the Bible. “Reformed and always reforming” was not a motto giving license for continual doctrinal innovation, which is how I’ve heard semper reformada used a hundred times. It was a rallying cry to keep going back to the Scriptures so that by them the church may be reformed and always reforming.

This book is worth your time and energy. Get it here.

In church, theology
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God’s work in God’s way for God’s glory

May 23, 2011 — Leave a comment

Dave Harvey:

Christians are flammable. God created us to burn. Not like a match either – bright and hot but quickly extinguished. That does little good for others and brings little glory to God. Ambitions are like a blowtorch. God ignites them, he points them in the right direction, and eternal work gets done. The flame is sustained by the fuel of grace. God’s work in God’s way for God’s glory. Why burn for anything else?

Rescuing Ambition

In theology
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