Pastoral Wisdom w/ Driscoll @ Gospel Coalition

Posted on April 22, 2009

Some of Mark Driscoll’s most recent talks have been packed with pastoral wisdom. Do not miss his talk A Call to Endure which deserves to be heard or watched by pastor and wife together. He calls us to endure: emotionally, physically, spiritually, parentally, spiritually. Some of his insightful points include:

  • The only person that can truly pastor you is your wife.
  • Your personality calcifies as you get older apart from the gospel you will become a calcified version of yourself.
  • The one idol your church will let you worship is ministry. Don’t lose intimacy with Jesus.

In his 1 Timothy address at GC, Driscoll lays out three types of people pastors are called to interact with: positives, negatives, neutrals. He reaches deep into his own experience to bring pastoral empathy and ministry wisdom.

Read his notes here.

Tightboards.com

Posted on April 21, 2009

Every once in a while, you meet someone so cool, so noteworthy, you just have to tell others about them. Luke is one of those people. He is a forward thinker, an Oxford Blue (played basketball for them), a gospel-centered missional hipster, an entrepreneur, and an all-round great guy. He started numerous businesses. I’ll highlight a couple: TightBoards.com.

Tight Boards has been newly redesigned and carries sand, skate, surf, and snow gear. He specializes in Burton Snowboards and sells some of the coolest watches out there, Nixons. Also, check out his SandalSuperstore.com which carries almost very imaginable sandal around, at good prices.

Yeah, if you haven’t figured it out by now this is a shameless plug for my brother and his businesses. He’s a great brother, friend, partner in ministry, basketball player, and businessman. Oh, and if you need better search engine placement, SEO is his main gig. Check it all out, better yet buy some stuff and hangout with him!@

The Gospel in 3 Dimensions

Posted on April 20, 2009

On Sunday we launched a new series called The Gospel and the Gospel as a follow up to our previous series on The Gospel and Character. The gospel is both simple and complex. We affirm that it is simple enough for a child to grasp but complex enough to ponder for all eternity. This new series focuses on some of the complex, doctrinal content of the gospel in order to come to a greater appreciation of its simplicity. In this article, Tim Keller lays out three perspectives on the gospel (Doctrinal, Personal, Social). We have taken his observations and worked them out quite a bit in order to set up a holistic, gospel framework. We use the word “dimensions” instead of “perspectives” to emphasize that each dimension is non-negotiable. If we receive and reflect only one-dimension, we distort both the gospel and our lives. Very often, Christians pick one or two dimensions and end up dishonoring Christ and his gospel. Our hope is that in understanding the fullness of a three-dimensional gospel, we will more profoundly live it out. If you want to grow in your comprehension and reflection of the gospel, I highly recommend that you take advantage of these resources:

Sci-Fi Recommendations

Posted on April 18, 2009

I love Sci-Fi, especially philosophical Sci-Fi like the Blade Runner, Matrix, Equilibrium, THX 1138. Here are two newer films I’d recommend:

Primer – Sundance winner I saw a few years ago that is the opposite of Chrysalis. This film is disjointed, confusing, with no special effects or action but an amazing storyline. This one will get you thinking for some time.

Chrysalis – this French, Sci-Fi film noir has remarkable sound, lighting, cinematography and a decent plot. The fight sequences are reminiscent of the Bourne Identity films, and the themes probe beyond the depth of our need for relationships into idolatry of relationships.

Feel free to share some of your Sci-Fi recommendations!