August 2011 Blog Posts (18)

I recently had a short but provocative twitter conversation with Ukumbwa Sauti, M.Ed.  who is a professor of cultural media studies, and is trained in Indigenous African Spiritual Technologies in the Dagara tradition.  The conversation centered on the perceived cultural…

    Yesterday I listened, as did anyone in a two block radius of the bank, to a customer's explosive rant proclaiming they wouldn't let him cash a check. On my way home from work, two cars log-jammed in the middle of a 4-way stop with both drivers gesturing their frustration while jabbing their horns. Whew! Rage in action!

     Why are people so angry? I wish I knew the answer. My best guess is that most of us think we deserve to be first. Our unalienable right to life, liberty, and…

What if the Great Commission, Matthew 28:19,20 , was the generative source for all Ministry in the New Testament?  What if every other ministerial function in…

Over the last year or so I have been reading some books that have had a huge impact on my walk with Christ. They have caused me to rethink my commitment to Jesus, what it means to be a Christian, how to live out the Christian faith…what a life totally surrendered to Jesus might look like, and a host of other questions.

Some of these books have been: “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan; “Radical” by David Platt; “Not A Fan” by Kyle…

I am speaking tomorrow at a chapel service in a senior adult community in Atlanta. I get to do that three or four times a year. 

I love doing it and I never turn down the opportunity. The seniors there are so sweet. Several I know from our church and others I've gotten to know over the months when I can be there. Some show up in walkers or wheelchairs; others are brought with their caretakers; still others come in slowly under their own, if diminishing, steam. What always…

In the midst of chaos, let there be light!

Is there any lesson in Scripture about a great economic crisis that afflicted the known world in biblical times? Yes there is. And the LORD has several lessons for us. There is no problem that man has experienced that has not been known…

  “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He had received the promises, yet he was ready to offer up his only son. God had told him, "Through Isaac descendants will carry on your…

"HUT, TWO. THREE, FOUR..."

Objects that are misplaced can create a frustrating situation. I should know. My Mom was not kidding when she said, "You'd loose your head if it were not attached." However, in the church, people that are misplaced constitute a tragedy. Every believer has the greatest power force in the world and has been gifted for a ministry that will be life-changing for all who are involved. Yet, a careless (or prayerless) decision by a church leader can limit (at best) the potential for a Christian to…

What is the value of a brother or sister, mom or dad? What is the value of a faithful friend? Our society has a habit of placing value on that which is self-serving (cars, phones, houses, etc.) and downplaying relationships. Last night I was challenged with a thought, "How much value does our church leadership place on volunteers?" The measuring stick for this proposition is found in our attitude toward those we work with directly in ministry.

Allen Newell, author of a training…

Music is beautiful when there is the perfect balance of a strong melody and a complementing harmony. For two accomplished piano players, whose love for music was stifled by debilitating strokes, this ability to enjoy the eighty-eight keys was severely diminished. Margret was impaired on the left side and Ruth on the right. Yet, the lives of both these women changed when the director of their convalescent center placed them side-by-side on the piano bench. What came from that…

It is the priviledge of each beliver in Jesus Christ, even to the humblest, to be taught of God (John 6:45).

“Prepare your work outside

And make it ready for yourself in the field;

Afterwards, then, build your house.”…

GOD has no money!

“For every beast of the forest is Mine,

The cattle on a thousand hills.…

It's been awhile since I've posted . . . life has gotten in my way. I spent last week in New Orleans with my daughter and son-in-law, so I didn't teach my Bible study class last Sunday. When I returned this week, the large marker board in the classroom was covered with notes and a second marker board was beside it with one statement: "And Margie's answer is . . . " I wasn't even sure what the question was until class members began to arrive. The question was about how we see God in…

It seems to me that prayer is an essential element of discipleship; maybe the core component. Without the ability to converse with God, how can any of the other responsibilities of being a disciple have life? Is it possible that so many church-discipled Christians are experts on studying, memorizing, learning, singing, giving but inexperienced in authentic, proactive, world changing praying?

Phil

www.PhilsBlog.net