Financial Trouble at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Wade Burleson:

In a contracting economy Southern Baptist churches and agencies must tighten the fiscal belt. Though God has promised to provide every need for His people, during recessionary periods it is prudent for Christians to place wants and desires in the back seat in order to ensure that the money provided by God to meet needs is not diverted to fulfill personal whims of those in charge. If a Southern Baptist church or institution ever makes the mistake of whittling expenses by firing staff, forcing the early retirement of older employees, and cutting salaries of low end employees while continuing to provide extravagant perks and luxuries for the pastor or president, then trouble for the church or institution looms.

There is no better illustration of this principle at work among Southern Baptists than what is now happening at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Read the whole post here.

(HT: Christ, My Righteousness)

Why You Should Try Out Windows Live Writer 2009

James Yeang of makeuseof.com has given “7 Reasons Why You Should Try Out Windows Live Writer 2009”. If you are a blogger this might be worth your attention.

Makeuseof.com:

I rarely find myself recommending a Microsoft product to people, but Windows Live Writer certainly bucks the trend here.  As a desktop application for blogging, it’s powerful, simple to use and set up.

If you’re a blogger and you’re not convinced, here are 7 reasons why you should try out Windows Live Writer 2009.

1. Much faster than writing your post online
2. Ability to import your blog theme so you preview your post as you write
3. Extendibile and Customizable
4. Switch between blogs at a click of a button
5. Easily insert rich media
6. Immediate access to drafts
7. Superior image handling and effects

Read the whole post for an explanation on each one.

The Office: Customer Survey – Role Playing

My wife is a huge fan of The Office so I decided to buy her seasons 2 and 3 for Christmas.  I have gotten hooked since watching it with my wife.  Although there are some segments that may not be worth the play time overall the show is simple and brilliantly written.  The clip below is from season 5 and reminded me of my days working in the Distance Learning Department at Liberty University.  On top of randomly monitoring and recording our phone calls we would  have to role play for management to make sure that we were hitting our talking points.  I had a flashback watching this video.  These guys are crazy funny as always…

Vodpod videos no longer available.

How to Pray For Your Pastor

Ligon Duncan has pointed out some ways to pray for our pastors. Many people sometimes forget to pray for the one person or persons who are in need of prayer the most or at least as much as anyone else in the congregation.  I have found from my experience that congregations seem to limit most of their prayer within the confines of lay people not giving much focus to their leaders and when they do pray it is unfortunate that it is but vague intercessions.  Like many times it could be just the fact that we are not sure how to pray for our pastors other than “praying for a hedge of protection from the evil one.”  Being specific is one key to a rich prayer life….

Ligon Duncan:

1. That [your pastor] would know and love the living God, would have a saving interest in Christ, being purchased by His blood, and thus would be bound to the Lord by the indissoluble bond of the Holy Spirit.

2. That [your pastor] would know, embrace and ever more deeply understand the Gospel and be shaped by it in life and ministry.

3. That [your pastor] would be useful servant of the Lord, that he would know and love God’s word, God’s people, and God’s kingdom; that he would be used to build it up and so that it prevails even against Hell’s gates.

4. That [your pastor] would study, practice and teach the Word of the Lord, by the grace of the Holy Spirit.

5. That [your pastor] would love to pray, because he loves to commune with his God, and that he would be a man of prayer, characteristically.

6. That [your pastor] would be ever dependent upon and filled with the Spirit; and that he would possess true Spiritual wisdom.

7. That [your pastor] would be holy unto the Lord. That his tongue and heart would be wholly God’s.

8. That [your pastor] would be kept from pride, and especially spiritual pride. That the Lord himself would be gracious to slay pride in him, and that your pastor would endeavor to always be putting pride to death, by the grace of the Holy Spirit.

9. That God would give [your pastor] guidance as to where to focus his efforts in ministry.

10. That He would protect [your pastor] from himself, from the enemy of his soul, and from all earthly enemies.

11. That no decision which [your pastor] ever makes or desire that [your pastor] ever pursues would restrict his ability to pour his whole soul into the Gospel ministry.

12.That many would be converted and many built up under [your pastor]’s ministry, to God’s glory alone.

13. That the Lord would bless [your pastor]’s wife, [. . . ], with holiness and happiness, Gospel assurance and Gospel rest.

14. That God would make [your pastor] a decent husband and father.

15. That [your pastor] would be a good friend to his wife, and love her self-sacrificially,

16. That [your pastor] would be a good daddy to his children. That they would love God, their parents and the church.

17. That [your pastor] would be a testimony in the home so that his wife might be able to respect him when he is in the pulpit, and so that [your pastor] will be able to feed her soul, along with the rest of the congregation.

(HT: Tim Challies)