Saturday Smorgasbord (Some things worth tasting this week).

Below are some things I have read this week that caught my eye, my ear, or my heart. Give a click and maybe they will yours also.

1. Kevin Weatherby, my cowboy pastor friend, takes a look at what would happen if the entire church institution became cowboys on a ranch to see how they would handle the day to day operations. “Don’t be fooled into thinking that this was written for someone else. It was written for you–and me.” Read more…
2. Larry Westfall wrote a post called Help Your Pastor Before It’s Too Late. “Being a pastor is one of the most demanding roles on the face of the planet.  I want to encourage you today to support your pastor in any way that you can.  Here are a few suggestions that will tremendously help.” Read the 8 suggestions and the comments
3. C Michael Patton from Parchment and Pen wrote an insightful post on the issue of legalism versus libertanianism. He says, “We need to be sensitive, but not to the point where we are simply fueling others’ faulty understanding and legalism. People will control you to the degree that you let them. If you allow this to go on without discernment, not only will you be immobile, but you will have lost your liberty. Lose liberty, lose the Gospel.” Read Beware of “Professional Weaker Brethren”.
4. JUSTAPEN, Seiji Yamashita, at The Ignition Point gives us a shot in the arm and a kick in the pants with his post, Set Up for Success. “How can we even imagine that we might somehow fall and lose the day when we have been so thoroughly set up for victory?” The post is good. The comments are even better.
5. Anne Jackson‘s second book, Permission to Speak Freely – Essays and Art on Fear, Confession and Grace released this week. Anne decided to share seven essays on seven different blogs. They are candid snap shots of her life as a preacher’s kid. They will touch your heart and bring tears to your eyes. I encourage you to read them all and if they impact you like they did me, you will want to buy the book and read all 22 essays. To read the essays, you can follow the links below:   

Donald Miller (Essay #1 – The First Brick)
Jon Acuff (Essay #2 – The Final Brick)
Carlos Whittaker (Essay #3 – Losing Faith)
Pete Wilson (Essay #4 – Finding Love in All the Wrong Places)
XXXChurch.com (Essay #5 – Shattered Pixels)
Catalyst Conference (Essay #6 – Ghosts of Churches Past)
FlowerDust.net (Essay #7 – Listening)

I hope you enjoy these as much as I did.

Good Reads for the Week

Some Things Worth Checking Out 2

Below are some things I have read this week that caught my eye, my ear, or my heart. Give a click and maybe they will yours also.

1. Kevin Weatherby, my cowboy pastor friend says, “There is nothing wrong with just being a cowboy for Christ. I don’t have to be a rancher for Christ to be someone important to God. The Lord has put you in a place for a reason.” Read more…
2. Nolan Bobbitt wrote a post called Pleasing Insiders or Reaching Outsiders? as a take-off on a statement from Perry Noble, “You are going to have to choose whether or not you want to please insiders or reach outsiders…you cannot do both.”
3. Kevin DeYoung tries his hand at a Screwtape Letter, the C.S. Lewis inspired form of address where you write like you’re one of the bad guys. In it he deals with the issues new college students will face and the danger of falling out of church. Pass it on your friends and children. Churchless Christians are on their way to being no Christian at all.
4. Chris Branscome at The Prayer Experiment wrote a series this week on How Jesus Prayed. He says, “Focused time alone with Him gives us room to see His intrinsic worth, glory, and majesty, instead of only seeing Him within the context of what He can do for us. We remember that His love for us is not based on who we are or what we can do for Him or others, but based only on the fact that He is love, and that we have done and can do nothing to earn His infinite affections.”
5. Randy Alcorn shares the moving story of how his Eternal Perspectives Ministries got started. He says, “God didn't die and leave this earth to you and me. He still owns it. The more I thought about it, the more real it became. Once I owned nothing legally, this became clear. I realized that the house that might be taken from us belonged to God, not to us. Why worry about what belongs to God? He could do fine without our house, and we knew He'd give us someplace else to live.” Great testimony! Read part 1 and part 2.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I did.

Some Things Worth Checking Out

On Saturday this week I thought I would share some things I have read this week that caught my eye, my ear, or my heart. Maybe they will yours also.

1. Kevin Weatherby, my cowboy pastor friend, posted a Letter from Jesus, a Letter from the Holy Spirit, and a Letter from God. Kevin’s warm conversational style captures God’s love and sends it home to us. These might be especially useful to give to someone you know who has yet to come to trust in Jesus.
2. Larry Westfall posted a heart-touching video about the Gainesville State School football team and how the coach from a Christian high school asked parents and fans to cheer for this other team-- Are You Willing To Cheer For The Other Team?
3. Ron Edmundson wrote an insightful post that might help you understand your pastor a little better: 10 Things You May Not Know About Senior Pastors.
4. Two ladies each wrote about allowing the Holy Spirit to control our thought life. Both helped me to re-examine how I think and react. Lara shares her experience in Thinking on Purpose. And Janis shares a similar episode in Tell Yourself the Truth.
5. I could so relate to what Brian Croft wrote in his post, What is a healthy way for a pastor’s wife to relate to her husband? Kathy has always been my greatest supporter in the ministry and also my most helpful critic. Croft says A pastor’s wife should always be…Supportive, but unimpressed.
6. In honor of my sci-fi nerd son, I share Randy Alcorn’s take on “Will there be sci-fi super nerds in Heaven? And will we all get together and build the Enterprise?” Of course my wife says I am also a sci-fi nerd, that’s where my son gets it from. Anyway, read it at Sci-fi Nerds and Heaven.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I did.