Church

For those of you involved in the creative process -- writers, designers, preachers -- here is an excerpt from a blog post by Donald Miller.  He's the author of Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality (among others) and it's a great little post about how to jumpstart creativity. Sometimes a writer will sit for an hour or so, just thinking of a creative setting in which to place a conversation. It’s important work, that sitting and thinking, because the scene will engage the viewer or reader much better. And it’s important work in life, too. Here are some tips on creating memorable scenes: 1. Say yes to awkwardness: Is your buddy a mortician? Ask him if you can take him to lunch in exchange for a tour of his funeral home. I did this once. Talk about a memorable scene. I’ll spare you the details, but it was a…

In my last post, I mentioned that we Christ-followers should be buying in bulk great books about Jesus and giving them away for free.  Here's a few I would recommend.  Note: these are not intended to be academic resources.  They are well-written books that present Jesus in a way that connects with modern readers. No Wonder They Call Him the Savior: Experiencing the Truth of the Cross (The Bestseller Collection) - Max Lucado God Came Near (The Bestseller Collection) - Max Lucado The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out - Brennan Manning Moments with the Savior: A Devotional Life of Christ - Ken Gire Intimate Moments with the Savior - Learning to Love - Ken Gire Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense - N.T. Wright

"Then Jesus went out to the lakeshore again and taught the crowds that were coming to him.  As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at his tax collector’s booth. 'Follow me and be my disciple,' Jesus said to him. So Levi got up and followed him.  Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.)  But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, 'Why does he eat with such scum?'" (Mark 2:13-16). Who are you bringing to the table to meet Jesus? Shortly after Jesus invited Levi (Matthew) to be his follower, Levi decides to throw a party and invites all his friends to the table.  The guest…

In our Friday morning men's group, we recently began studying the book of Daniel.  In chapter two, King Nebuchadnezzar has a troubling dream.  After ruling out bad pizza, he calls in his assortment of magicians, enchanters, and sorcerers and challenges them to interpret his dream.  Only one caveat: if they can't first tell him what the dream was, he will have them torn apart from limb to limb.  That must have been one bad dream. It becomes obvious they're stalling for time and Nebuchadnezzar then decides to have all the wise men in Babylon killed. "And because of the king’s decree, men were sent to find and kill Daniel and his friends.  When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, came to kill them, Daniel handled the situation with wisdom and discretion." (Daniel 2:13-14). I love how Daniel responds at this critical moment: with wisdom and discretion.  A crisis demands…

Has it come this?  Free WiFi at McDonald's ... NEW YORK (Reuters) – McDonald's Corp plans to offer free Wi-Fi service at most of its U.S. restaurants, starting on January 15, a spokeswoman said on Monday. The largest U.S. fast-food chain had previously said it would provide free Wi-Fi at some point in early 2010 but had not given a date. A McDonald's spokeswoman told Reuters that free Wi-Fi will be available at about 11,500 out of its 14,000 locations. The company currently offers Wi-Fi for a rate of $2.95 for two hours, she said.