From Here. To There.

Only by the Grace of God.

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It’s no wonder girls get all insecure about themselves, when even the models don’t look like the models…

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coffee&tv: submit!

mattjacobs:

It’s not really a popular word, is it?

I was asked a question today, “Why do you think more people aren’t training for vocational Youth Ministry?”

To be honest, I hadn’t really thought about it. It’s not an issue at the forefront of my ministry, but I can see that it is becoming an issue in the…

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How *not* to impress a literary agent

slushpilehell:

I hope you’ll represent my fictional novel.

To you and the other countless authors who refer to your books as “fictional novels,” will you please, for the love of all that’s holy and good in this world, stop it. Besides, I don’t represent fictional novels. I represent only poetic poetry, nonfictional true stories, how-to-cook-stuff cookbooks, and children’s books for children.

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Kids’ Talk ideas: Mercy

Big Idea: God showed mercy to us, even though we disobeyed him.

You will need: Playdough for three people.

The setup:

1. Pick three children as volunteers (this works best with boys, but be fair)

2. Ask the children to make their very own creature out of playdough. It doesn’t have to be a real creature, it is only limited by their imagination.

3. Give them a few minutes to make their creature.

4. When they’ve made their creature, say to them:

“I want you to imagine that you can make these creatures really alive. Imagine that you gave this creature the ability to live. Now imagine that the creature has turned to you, has looked straight at you, and then the first thing they do is bite you on the finger so hard it makes it bleed.” 

5. Ask them: “How would you react if that creature did that to you? What would you feel like doing?”

6. Chances are, most of them will squish their playdough creatures* (although some may talk to it and tell it to go to the naughty corner).

7. To the kids who squashed their creatures, say:

“Isn’t it great that God isn’t like us? God made us, didn’t he? But just like the creature, we don’t treat God the way we should. We sin.

“The good news is that God didn’t just squish us like the playdough. He sent Jesus to take the punishment we should have had, so that we could be friends with God, instead of his enemies.

“God showed us Mercy through Jesus.”

Memory verse:  Romans 3:23-34

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Divided over 'Divided: the Movie'

grahamstanton:

This fifty minute documentary has been causing a bit of a splash recently. At least it has in the youth ministry corner of the internet. There have been plenty of responses already (with varying degrees of respect or rancour). Three of the most helpful and constructive ones I’ve come across are from Tim Challies (http://www.challies.com/dvd-reviews/divided-the-movie), Walt Mueller (http://learningmylines.blogspot.com/2011/07/divided-movie-hmmmmmm.html) and Mark Oestricher (http://whyismarko.com/2011/my-thoughts-on-the-documentary-divided/).

I’m keen to throw my opinion into the mix because as a reformed evangelical I share with the producers of this film the same desire for robust Christian discipleship, the same commitment to the authority of Scripture and the same desire to be thoroughly ‘biblical’ in all our ministry. But despite all that agreement I still disagree profoundly with the agenda that Divided promotes and with the method that Divided pursues.

So over the next few posts will be my reflections on Divided, expressed as some pointers on how to construct a biblical argument.

1. Commitment to Scripture does not entail commitment to particular conclusions drawn from Scripture.

Young earth creationism, complementarianism, and a conservative political agenda (small government and individual responsibility) are all theological and social positions that are defended by appeals to the authority of Scripture.  But while it is true that Christians who hold these positions tend to be theologically conservative in relation to the authority of Scripture, the equation is not true in reverse.

Divided wants to say that age-segregated ministries are unbiblical and therefore have no place in the contemporary church. So if you really want people to embrace that conclusion then argue that point without requiring people to be creationists, complementarians and republicans at the same time.

These are all significant issues that ought to be debated carefully and constructively by wrestling together with our Bibles open and our heads screwed on. But none of these issues are the point of Divided.

Most galling is the implication that if you’re truly biblical then you’ll line up behind each of these positions. Yet I know people, godly and wise people who hold sincere disagreements on these matters. That’s not a reason to suspend debate (‘it’s all too hard, and everyone means well, so lets just agree to disagree’). No, these are important issues – let’s debate and discuss, sharpen one another and pray for a clearer knowledge of the truth. But lets not demean others by the suggestion that their view is so obviously wrong that you’d have to be an imbecile not to realise it!

So let’s not muddy the waters with side issues. Lets conduct one debate at a time. Are age-segregated ministries contrary to God’s will and the source of divine judgement upon the contemporary church? That will require some thinking about Scripture. More to come.