Using Twitter for Ministry Part 2

Twitter is the “new” thing. Newspapers,TV Stations, Hollywood stars and even Oprah are now using Twitter. Maybe you are wondering, “What is Twitter?”  Twitter says it is a service for friends, family, and co-workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?

The brilliance of Twitter is that it is simple. You send out a short (140 character) message to all those who are following you. You follow other [read more] ...

Word and Spirit

Acts 2:42-47 paints perhaps the most breath-taking, awe-inspiring picture of New Testament church life. There are at least 10 key elements that comprised their life together first of which was a devotion to the apostle’s teaching, essentially Scripture as we know it. Now for those of us who are more on the charismatic side (the “without a seatbelt” version), we should pay very close attention. One of the first passions birthed in the heart of one who has just been [read more] ...

Using Twitter for Ministry Part 1

Twitter is the “new” thing. Newspapers, TV Stations, Hollywood stars and even Oprah are now using Twitter. Maybe you are wondering, “What is Twitter?” Twitter says it is a service for friends, family, and co-workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?

The brilliance of Twitter is that it is simple. You send out a short (140 character) message to all those who are [read more] ...

Herding Cats

I like this advert a lot: 

I guess life feels like this for lots of us lots of the time. If you are reading this blog (nice to have you!) you are almost certainly a cat herder. Tech is great, but I could spend my whole life reading blogs, twittering and surfing YouTube. On my more distracted days trying to get some thoughts straight and meaningful work accomplished feels like herding cats – a twitch here, a mouse there and suddenly [read more] ...

What Do You See When You Read the Bible?

Because life is experienced in the context of people, it’s so very easy for our perspective to be shaped by others.  It even happens when we read the Bible.  I saw this for myself the other day as I was reading Judges 9.

(vs. 52-53)  Abimilech followed them to attack the tower.  But as he prepared to set fire to the entrance, a woman on the roof dropped a millstone that landed on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull.  (vs. 56) [read more] ...

Does Good Doctrine Save Us?

Most pastors who ascribe to reformed theology (myself included) are very clear that we are not saved by “good works”, but I am not sure that we are convinced that we are not saved by good doctrine…at least not in practice. We are very careful not to tell people you need to do the right things so God will love you, but I am wondering if we are not unknowingly telling people they have to think a certain way for [read more] ...

Where Did Jesus Go?

I grew up in a Pastor’s family and I went to a Christian College. After college I went to churches where I was basically paid to take care of church members. For the first 30 years of my life I was sheltered from the non-Christian world. I moved to Portland, Oregon in 1999 to start a church but God had a lot to teach me so we didn’t start Church! at Bethany until 2006. For several years I spent time [read more] ...

ExeJesus

In seminary, we as pastors are trained to do biblical exegesis. Exegesis is the critical study of the biblical text so that we can understand the context (historical & cultural) of the passage in order to gain its relevance. Not in our 21st century context, but in the context of when it was written.

Too often we try to make the Bible about us and how we can relate it to our lives. However, I believe God calls each of us to [read more] ...