Great description of the origins and meaning of the Christian practice of Advent.
John Piper's new book
An early review of the new Piper book Finally Alive. HT:SM
I Am Second
Check out this creative, global thinking local acting, Jesus-centered movement of people on mission at I Am Second. The website offers intriguing interviews with the likes of Stephen Baldwin, Jason Castro, and normal people who want to make a difference by acknowledging that God is first and they are second. There’s even a story about a guy who decided to start a revolution in his high school by having people buy buttons for African instead of mums for homecoming games, and sent the money to build two wells in Africa. Check it out. Oh, and my friend Trey Hill did a lot of the photography.
Service in the Local Church is Killing Her
Neil Cole offers a brief, biting reflection on how service in the local church is killing her. This is one of the reasons I appreciate his writing and ministry:
We ask for volunteers all the time. We offer spiritual-gift assessments to see where people fit best in our program, but we never really offer very challenging experiences for people. Handing out bulletins, directing traffic wearing a bright orange vest, chaperoning a youth function, or changing a diaper in the nursery may be helpful for the church program, but none of it is a task worth giving your life to. Many who struggle to do these things have a nagging unspoken question: “Did Jesus come so I can do this?”
We must transition from seeing church as a once-a-week worship event to an ongoing spiritual family on mission together. Then people will see church as something worth giving your life for. Honestly, people need one another more then they need another inspiring message. You would be surprised what people will do for Jesus, or for a brother or sister, that they will not do for a vision statement and a capital giving campaign.
How are you connecting the church to the church? Are your inspiring messages creating a church that lives in community and mission? Are you pseudomissional or gospel missional?