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Cello Wars: The Phantom Cellist (Star Wars Parody)
Light sabers, cellos, and Darth Vader popping…what more can you ask for.
Bob Kaulflin: The Theology and Practice of Worship (Interview)
Bob Kauflin is the author of Worship Matters and the Director of Worship Development for Sovereign Grace Ministries. [Bio]
01:04 — How did you come to Christ and become a worship leader?
04:21 — Tell us about how God brought you through a battle with hopelessness.
07:59 — How should we think about worship as an event and as all of life?
11:35 — What does it mean for worship leaders to be clear and specific?
14:30 — What should we do with songs that don’t explicitly mention Jesus?
17:07 — How do we anticipate the new creation in our worship events?
19:45 — How might worship be different in the new creation?
22:06 — How should we consider the horizontal elements of worship?
24:55 — Why do humans sing?
30:32 — Should we give preference to our voices over the music?
32:27 — What does it mean to sing the gospel to ourselves?
37:57 — What encourages you most about worship in the church today?
38:46 — What adjustments would you make about worship in the church today?
41:58 — How does a church train new members for their worship team?
45:57 — How can we help our children to enjoy the worship event?
48:31 — How should we think about the cultural barriers at work in music?
52:24 — How should worship leaders handle criticism?
57:10 — What’s your favorite song?
Stream or download the interview.
“Wimpy Theology Makes Wimpy Women”
Wimpy theology makes wimpy women. That’s my assumption that I bring to this evening. Wimpy theology simply does not give a woman a God that is big enough, strong enough, wise enough, and good enough to handle the realities of life in away that magnifies the infinite worth of Jesus Christ.
Wimpy theology is plagued by woman-centeredness and man-centeredness. Wimpy theology doesn’t have the granite foundation of God’s sovereignty or the solid steel structure of a great God-centered purpose for all things.
Jessica Thompson on not shying away from theology:
The truth of the matter is that even if you say theology isn’t important and you don’t want to bother with it, you are a making a statement about God. That statement is this: His character is not worthy of your time and energy.
Sisters, put the milk away, pull out a knife and fork and dive into the meat of our Creator. Don’t be afraid of theology, don’t leave the head work up to the men. Grab ahold of our great God and study Him. Study who He is, what He has revealed about Himself in the Bible. Study what He says about you. Be amazed at the wonder of His great love and see how that knowledge will revolutionize all of life.
45 Most Powerful Images Of 2011
#4 Members of the national security team receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House on May 1.
William Lane Craig: The Origins of the Universe – Has Hawking Eliminated God? (2011)
Youtube:
William Lane Craig responds in a public lecture to the claims in Stephen Hawking’s recent book The Grand Design. Speaking to a capacity audience at St Andrew the Great church, Cambridge, Prof Craig outlined the weaknesses of the central arguments of the book. Rev Dr Rodney Holder, an astrophysicist, responded to Prof Craig.
This lecture was a part of The Reasonable Faith Tour 2011 sponsored by UCCF, Damaris & Premier Christian Radio.
Tightrope Surfing
Youtube:
The most side surfs on a slackline in one minute is 143 and was achieved by Andrew Lewis (USA) at the Diaoshuilou Waterfall of Jingbo lake, Mudanjiang City, China, on 28 August 2011
Liberate 2012 (Conference)
Liberate Conference *Feb 23-25:
The gospel of grace is more drastic, more offensive, more liberating, more shocking, and more counterintuitive than any of us realize. There is nothing more radically unbalanced and drastically unsafe than grace. It has no “but”: it’s unconditional, uncontrollable, unpredictable, and undomesticated. It unsettles everything. There is a dangerous depth to the gospel that needs to be rediscovered and embraced. That’s what the LIBERATE Conference is all about.
“Preaching in Secular Culture”
Tim Keller gives some helpful advice on preaching in a secular culture:
- Solve all problems with the gospel
- Beware of assumptions
- Engage in apologetics
- Provide applications for both parties
- Be authentic
- Be conscious of alienating language
- Expect, and respect, doubt
- Address the wider community
- Draw on cultural references
- Read across the spectrum
Download the whole article here (PDF)
HT: Steve McCoy
Doing Good is Not Good Enough
You have to be mindful of God in the good that you do.
“Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good” (1 Peter 4:19).
“For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly” (1 Peter 2:19).
“Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
“Whatever is not from faith is sin” (Romans 14:23).
Spurgeon on Benefiting From Sorrow
1. Sorrow teaches us to resist trite views of what maturity in Jesus looks like.
2. Sorrow exposes and roots out our pride.
3. Sorrow pushes us to take an honest second look at ourselves and our situations.
4. Sorrow is a means of drawing us closer to Jesus in truer dependence.
5. Sorrow teaches us empathy for one another.
Read them in detail at the Resurgence
Tips on Public Scripture Reading
Because of the importance of the Word of God, at Grace Fellowship Church we ask certain members of the church to be involved in a Scripture Reading Ministry—a ministry of those who are specially trained and equipped to read the Word of God and to read it well. We consider this a teaching ministry, which means that it is a ministry reserved for men.
Here are some of the things we seek to teach the men who participate in this minstry. I’m hoping this may serve you as you consider reading Scripture in a public setting. It assumes that the person reading Scripture has some time to prepare himself!
**UPDATE
Tim Challies has responded to some of the criticism that the public reading of scripture is reserved for men only.
Together for Adoption Conference Audio (2011)
Missional Living, the Gospel and Orphan Care. One of our primary objectives for this year’s conference is to create a forum to consider the good news of the Gospel, explore its implications for how we think about and implement orphan care strategies, and discuss how we can move toward greater collaboration as the people of God for the sake of orphans worldwide.
The Gospel, the Church, and Social Justice (Darrin Patrick)
Adoption and the Giving God (Dan Cruver)
The Church as the Theater of Transracial Adoption (Bryan Loritts)
Gospel-Motivation for Missional Living (Jeff Vanderstelt)
Relaxing in Trinitarian Love (Tim Chester)
Men and the Fatherless (Jason Kovacs)
Transracial Adoption from a Gospel-Centered Perspective (Vermon Pierre)
The Orphan and Child-Trafficking (Paul Myhill, World Orphans)
Reforming the International Adoption Process (Trey Ingram, Jedd Medefind, Elizabeth Styffe, Carolyn Twietmeyer & Rebecca Weichhand)
Grassroots Brainstorming & Opportunities for Orphan Care (Chris Marlow)
The Mega Issues: Breaking Down People’s Perception of the Orphan (Scott Vair, World Orphans)
Ideas for Becoming an Adoption-Friendly Church (Donna Thoennes, Ph.D., Biola)
Missional Living and Orphan Care (Jason Kovacs)
Raising Children with a Heart for Orphans (Dennae Pierre)
“One Woman A Cappella Disney Medley” (26 songs)
Love these solo a capellas….
Thank you for watching my “One-Woman A Cappella Disney Medley!” To those of you new to my channel, my name is Heather Traska, I am 17 years old, and make these videos in my free time (I’m still in high school).
This video is in part a 10,000 subscriber thank you video. It is the only way I knew how to thank you all for being so supportive and lovely.
This second video is of CCM artist Christ August and his rendition of Gavin DeGraw’s “Not Over You”.
Hope for a Hopeless Marriage, with Dean & Julie Petersen
A healthy marriage some would argue is the clearest example of the Gospel displayed. It is no wonder how sad it is when we see couples express hopelessness and feel imprisoned in their marriage. On the flip side there are few things more beautiful and moving than to see God’s grace work to restore a relationship between a married couple. Below is a four part interview with Dean and Julie Peterson who tell their story…
Part 1: “Brokenness in Marriage“: Dean and Julie Petersen’s marriage began after a date rape and appeared to be over after a number of adulterous relationships. Dean was planning on killing his pastor. His wife went to this pastor for counseling and ended up in an adulterous relationship with him.
Part 2: “Is Love More Than Feelings?” Julie received a two-second hug from a co-worker. That set her on a descent into lust.
Part 3: “How Bitterness Can Lead to Impurity” Bitterness can lead to all sorts of other destructive sins. Discover the danger of bitterness in a marriage and learn to find freedom from it.
Part 4: “Seeing Your Husband for the First Time” Once romantic feelings of love are gone, is it possible to get them back? After resenting her husband, Julie Peterson started acting loving toward him.
HT: Pure Church
91% of Pastors Plan to Host a Service on Christmas Day (Sunday)
Pastors were asked, “Christmas and New Year’s Day both fall on Sunday this year. As a result, does your church plan to have services on the following days: Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day?”
A recent LifeWay Research study of 1,000 Protestant pastors shows that 91 percent of Protestant pastors plan to have services on Christmas Day while 69 percent said they plan to host Christmas Eve services.
“Having church on Christmas Day when it falls on a Sunday seems as if it would be as much of a given as having Thanksgiving on a Thursday, but this has been an issue of discussion and contention in recent years,” said Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research. “Also, just because an overwhelming majority of pastors think that way doesn’t mean those in their congregations necessarily share their perspective.”
Suffering Servants and Winning
Tim Tebow is a follower of Jesus and quarterback for the Denver Broncos. That means he may be a loser, because Jesus lost. Only Charlie Sheen can be a man who is always winning, but that may be a sign that Charlie Sheen is delusional.
As God, Jesus could not lose. As man, Jesus could not win.
Thank God.
Did anybody want the Messiah to be a suffering servant?
Isaiah predicted that a suffering servant would come, but most of us wish our Messiah to be a winner. As Tim Tebow has witnessed to Christ, a few shallow folk have measured the truth of his claims based on his winning or losing on the football field.
Leadership Signs Your Movement is Dying
1. Insulation from criticism and/or interpretation of any criticism as attacks or insubordination.
2. Paranoia about who is and who isn’t in line.
3. Need to micromanage or hold others back from leadership opportunities or other responsibilities.
4. Impulse to horde credit and shift blame.
5. Progression has become reaction.
Attn Dads: The Difference Between What the Gospel Requires and What it Produces
WHY THESE DISTINCTIONS MATTER
All this may seem like splitting theological hairs, but I assure you these distinctions are crucial. Confusing what the gospel produces with what the gospel requires will lead either to a sterile works-righteousness on the one hand or to lawlessness on the other.For example, if we work toward getting our unbelieving children to do that which only the gospel can produce in the life of a believer, and fail to point them to the undeniable truth that there’s nothing in and of themselves whereby they may obey in a manner that will satisfy God’s righteousness, then we’re essentially telling them they can please God on their own—something the Bible says is impossible (Rom. 8:8).
On the other hand, if we merely throw up our hands in surrender, never calling our children to repentance and never holding up to them the mirror of God’s unattainable standard of righteousness, then our children will think themselves safe and secure when in fact they stand condemned before a holy and righteous judge. They must know that in the Lord’s sight, “all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” (Isa. 64:6).
Thus, we must teach our children to view the law as “our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith (Gal. 3:24). Only then does the gospel have its full impact.
Bearing Witness
(HT: Triablogue)
Magic Clerk (Prank)
Always love when people mix slight of hand with comedy.
Alexander Tsiaras: Conception to Birth (a visualization)
Alexander Tsiaras @ the INK Conference (2010)
Alexander Tsiaras, founder and CEO of Anatomical Travelogue, Inc., has more than twenty years of experience in the worlds of medicine, research, and art, and has won world recognition as a photojournalist, artist, and writer. His work has been featured on numerous television programs and on the covers of Life, Time, The New York Times Magazine, Smithsonian, and many other magazines. He is the author of From Conception to Birth: A Life Unfolds, The Architecture and Design of Man and Woman: The Marvel of the Human Body, Revealed, and The InVision Guide to a Healthy Heart. Mr. Tsiaras lives in New York City.
John Carter Cash Interview (Fox411 Q & A)
With the recent release of his new book titled “House of Cash: The Legacies of My Father, Johnny Cash” Fox411 interviews John Carter Cash on his dad.
FOX411: It seems like the most important thing to him were his religious beliefs.
Cash: The thing that mattered the most in his life was his relationship with his creator. He was educated and knew about it. He couldn’t have dealt with his addictions without it. That’s how he found redemption and peace, through prayer and connection to God.
Fathoming Amazon (Infographic)
My wife and I are regular customers of Amazon. This is quite a crazy perspective. Here are 9 Things to Know about Amazon.com.
Source: Frugaldad.com
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