Somehow, and I have no idea how, K has this crazy motivation and knack for getting us to do family activities. There was the time when she had us do a Christmas play (in the comfort of our own home of course) and over Thanksgiving she had everyone write down what they were thankful […]
So Lynn pulled together willing volunteers and without money, they began planning and dreaming “as if they had money and staff.” In 2004 Willow did “Christmas on location” with the three teaching pastors going to various parts of the globe. Bill and Lynne went to an AIDS clinic in Africa. When the 20 minute broadcast […]
I don’t know how long the extension has been around, but I’ve used it for 10 minutes and *love* *love* *love* it. Find it here.
I’ve had three phenomenal conversations in the past few weeks. Significant conversations with people that are in and around the SPACE universe. (I know, corny corny…)- People that I have spent quite a bit of time with, they have been involved in a bunch of SPACE stuff.- They are going way past the […]
My dad and I had our first talk about sex in a Chinese restaurant. I was about 23, I think. I had been dating D for a while and the conversation amounted to my dad making sure that I knew about AIDS. “You know about AIDS, right?” That was pretty much […]
I just edited all my Bloglines subscriptions to be public, after I realized that you can publish just a folder to your blogroll. Much better. Now all of you, if you wanted, could read all the rss feeds I read, not just what is on my blogroll. Thought you might be interested […]
Speaking of retreats, looks like we are finalizing a cool weekend partnership with a family friend and a ministry that he helps out. More details soon but here are some elements that I think are going to be significant about this weekend:- the first SPACE expedition (not a retreat, haha)- built around serving and […]
A power strip with lots of different electrical plugs for different parts of the world. Made by a company called Zhong *Sheng*. How cool is that? HT - BoingBoing.
One of the comments in another post (a long time ago) asked me to jot down some thoughts about retreats. The exact quote from my post that started it was something like this, “And I’m beginning to be philosophically opposed to retreats…”
“We believe that an alternative, missional approach to being and doing church is […]
Here is hoping all of you readers a Happy Thanksgiving! The fam and I are in CT at the Madre’s house for a few days. That means a lot of sleeping, eating and lounging around. Nice.
A few things for us to be thankful for:- family and friends and good health- that God […]
You long time readers know that I like the book Waking the Dead a lot. So much that it’s on the reading list for the SPACEintern. Fun surprise when her notes popped up in my rss reader. Here are some of the highlights.
You are never a great man when you have more […]
InflightHQ has a post about staying healthy while flying here.
My top list for gifts for students interested in missions.
1. book - Operation World2. book - The Shaping of Things to Come3. movie - Crash (for post high school students though)4. headlamp/flashlight - Black Diamond Night Ray5. video message series - Louie Giglio - Passport6. motion sick? - Sea […]
Well, yesterday came and went and I totally missed this - this blog just turned 3 years old…. Wow.
Here is a link to my first months set of posts. Whew, that was boring.
Anyway, this blog has been tons of fun. Thank you readers for the comments, feedback and most of all - what […]
“Many years ago a little Chinese girl fearfully stepped into the house of some newly-arrived missionaries 100 miles north of Beijing. Her parents had insisted that she listen to nothing these foreign devils; would say to her; she was only to help with the children, for her family desperately needed the extra income. She […]
“The best leaders are not those who win the most followers, but those who create other leaders.” - Neil Cole
I’ve written a lot about our SPACEintern. She is doing a fabulous job. This morning we had a quick conversation about some of the work she needs to do and maybe how she could […]
“There is only one thing big enough to handle the world’s problems, and that is the millions and millions of churches spread out around the world,” he says. “I can take you to thousands of villages where they don’t have a school. They don’t have a grocery store, don’t have a fire department. But they […]
Steve Argue is at the National Youthworker Convention and writes,
What if ministry was done out of true expression instead of other things?What are the “other things?”
You can probably fill in the blanks just as well as me…- guilt- fear- significance- competition- anger- grandstanding- fame… yuck… I’m feeling sick that I can rattle these off […]
This is the card I got from that lady I wrote about from our Launch. Icing on the cake. (Click for a larger size, a little hard to read.)
My good friend LB leaves tonight to help out with hurricane relief in Mississippi. Here is a post that details the work she is going to do over Thanksgiving break. Throw up a quick prayer for her and the team if you get some time.
You know… sometimes leadership stings and sometimes it hurts like !#$@#$! Sometimes, things don’t go that great and being in charge isn’t a lot of fun.
I don’t write much about my day job, but if you know me, you know that I’ve been at odds with it for a little while. Most of […]
My friend Dennis has started www.youthministrytv.com, which focuses on video clips and how to use those in youth ministry. Looks like a great resource. He is also the one that has encouraged me to try to use more video on this blog. (Look Dennis - got the screen capture working!)
- Dublin, IrelandWith a pub on nearly every corner, Dublin has no shortage of “third places”- Helsinki, Finland- Montreal, QuebecAmong international cities, Montreal boasts the fifth-largest creative-class workforce.- Sydney, Australiarepresents 180 countries and 140 languages- Vancouver, BChas one of the highest percentages of immigrants (31%) of any major cityRead more here.
- The future generation of missionary will be the rank-and-file businessman.- Christian-run companies are multiplying in just about every corner of the globe, reshaping overseas mission work. These businesses form a movement known variously as business as mission, kingdom business and great commission companies, after the biblical charge to “make disciples of all the nations.”
Read […]
I’ve had to learn a lot about leadership in the past week. Most of it has had to deal with my shortcomings as a leader AND as a follower, and the majority the latter. It hasn’t been fun. In fact, it has been rotten. More on that later.
In the […]
Another year of the raking bus has come and gone and just like previous years, this one’s was also a success. A crazy idea has now become a fun tradition.
Here are some quick stats:- bagged 228 bags of leaves- 7 houses- we teamed up with another local church and their youth pastor, but none […]
Dear friends,We would love it if you would say a quick prayer for the SPACE Launch tomorrow. The Rake Bus Launch is tomorrow and we would love it if you would talk to God about safety, fun and and eruption of students being passionate about reaching their friends and community.Thanks for praying!
Done today:- maps- list- advance warning to two families about us (the blessings are already moving out)
Still to do:- straighten up house- prepare launch gift - think using wiresnips a lot- the inevitable last minute calls from parents (already 3)- pick up van- think about what to say for two minutes after its all over- […]
If I had not been there that day to trigger that salute as an emissary of Christ, someone else’s emissary would have triggered it later, possibly with quite different motives and results. Those who advocate that the world’s remaining tribal groups should be left to themselves do not realize how naive their notion is! […]
“Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the mood in which it has been made has passed.”
Jesus, I need some of this ability right now…
D first told me of this game her youth group used to play called “Bigger and Better” or something like that. Anyway, this guy is doing it for real.
Jakarta, Nov. 08 (AsiaNews) - New violence has flared in Indonesia, in the town where three girls from a Christian school were decapitated on October 29, the AsiaNews service reports.Two more girls were shot in the head in the evening of November 8 in Poso, in central Sulawesi– a province marred by months of bloodshed, […]
1 SPACEintern with lots of energy and creativity1 vehicle with gas2 flashlights7 potential yards that we can rake on Saturday7 good sets of directions to potential yards (so we were missing one set of *good* directions… we had directions, they weren’t just that good)1 bamboo plant that we bought at a grocery store - I […]
We spent a nice leisurely afternoon today hanging out with some friends at a local park and playground. Interestingly enough, our friends are a GCC family that usually live in [undisclosed location at this time]. They are home for a few months and we hadn’t really seen them too much until today. […]
Frosty the Snowman showed up at our middle school church service this morning. Two things come to mind: 1 - I have no idea why Frosty showed up. 2 - Our middle school team does a fantastic Sunday every week.
I decided to put this online so I could add to it easily.
You’re the highest risk that God has taken. The safaris of Africa or the deep oceans of the Atlantic are wild, but they could never be a rebel or curse their creator. We, on the other hand, could and did. When God chose […]
You start to become a missiologist when you want to explore how Jesus and the Bible call us into mission. Missiologists get drawn into looking at the many nuances of mission, such as:What makes mission good or bad?What kinds of mission create dependencies?What kinds build capacity for the local community?In what ways can mission efforts […]
A few snippets from Momentum Magazine, a new magazine dedicated to online help believers passionately, quickly, and effectively reach the least-reached 27% of our world.
On Urban megacitites:
In 2000, the largest cities: Tokyo (26.4), Mexico City (18.1), Mumbai (18.1), Sao Paulo (17.8), New York (16.6), Lagos (13.4), Los Angeles (13.1), Calcutta (12.9), Shanghai (12.9), and Buenos […]
Today is the last day of Ramadan, so I’m sort of fasting during lunch. Sort of meaning - OJ, one bag of sunchips, two small pieces of Mr. Goodbar. Some really great info about Ramadan at 30-days of Prayer.
I’ve started to be a part of a group blog called Hodos with my friend MM and a friend of his. It’s kind of interesting to be in a group blogger and these guys bring up some good conversations.Here is a post I just wrote for that blog.
=====Mark writes in the previous post about […]
Neil Cole is the Executive Director and a founder of Church Multiplication Associates. Neil has been in pastoral ministry for fifteen years and is an experienced church planter, author and consultant. Neil is also a founding leader of the Awakening Chapels and of Organic Church planting movements. His most recent book is entitled, Organic […]
The names of the three Christian teenagers that were beheaded in Indonesia last Saturday morning. More info here.
I just got off the phone with the The Embassy of Indonesia in Washington D.C., and wanted to give you an update.According to the woman I spoke to at the Embassy there are currently six suspects […]
Look at the stats on this conference call…. I wasn’t on there quite the whole time….
Conference start time = 11/01/2005 - 09:56:46 AM (CST)Conference end time = 11/01/2005 - 10:27:39 PM (CST)
More fun with the SPACEintern tonight. We sat down to map out the Spring and what it looks like. Since she has taken on the responsibility and risk of being our first intern, I wanted to give her a chance to see her dreams and visions come to fruition. It was great […]
