Monthly Archives: February 2013

Saturday Six-Pack (30)

Posted on by
Reply

Welcome back to the Six-Pack, my friends!

I must say that this post represents arguably the strongest Six-Pack I’ve served up thus far.  Generally ministry-minded or faith-focused, with a dash of who-knows-what, here are a half-dozen recent reads that I think are worth your time.

If six is more than you can handle today, begin with my two *Picks of the Week*, and move from there.

For a steady stream of such links, follow me on Twitter ( @JasonBandura ) to the right of this post.  Sharp quotes and solid articles are tweeted 3-4 times daily.

Today’s edition:

1) How I Learned to Not Be Overwhelmed (*PICK OF THE WEEK*)
Donald Miller shares the story of how Dr. Henry Cloud owes his doctorate degree to an ant farm his friend gave him. This practical post will inspire anyone who is feeling pressured by their “to do” list today.

2) How China Plans to Wipe Out House Churches
The Communist government is sharpening its edge against China’s massive House Church movement. Christianity Today notes the latest trends and trajectories for underground believers in a fearful nation.

3) Multi-Tasking: Productive?
I have long declared, “Multi-tasking is a myth.” Now I have a slick infographic to support my case. Thanks to Scot McKnight for discovering and posting this.

4) 7 Common Time and Energy Wasters for Leaders
This list, compiled by Ron Edmondson, may well apply to everyone. But some of these can be especially hindering if you are in leadership.

5) Michael Jordan Has Not Left the Building
Wright Thompson, of ESPN, penned this piece that has been recommended to me by a handful of friends in the past week. On the occasion of the 50th birthday of the NBA’s biggest icon, this piece speaks powerfully of man’s pursuit of significance, often a path paved with futility.

6) Fresh Air (*PICK OF THE WEEK*)
That is the title of a new book, from Jack Levison, on the Holy Spirit. This great conversation about the Spirit was initiated and posted by Mark Stevens (on his great blog). No subject has my attention lately like that of the Holy Spirit; I found this interview well worth the read.

Blessings on you, my friends.  May your weekend be refreshing in rest, play, and worship.

YOUR TURN: Direct other readers to the best stuff above by making a comment below, or weigh in on what you read.  Your input makes this post better!

[You can subscribe to this blog via RSS or email, in the upper right corner of this page.]

Worst Valentine’s Day Gifts Ever

Posted on by
2

My wife and I were low-key in our Valentine’s Day this year. Every woman in this video now dreams of “low key”.

It’s one thing for Jimmy Kimmel to come up with a dumb idea–that’s a regular occurrence. It’s another to see how many men stepped up to the plate.

Three Lent Voices

Posted on by
Reply

Here are three directions that you may head if you are looking for help in building or maintaining some “Lent focus” in this pre-Easter stretch:

Ann Voskamp shares experiences of how her fasting attempts are proving to be far more convicting than inspiring. And in the long run, that is a most life-giving gift.

In “The Wonder of Lent,” Margaret Feinberg speculates that the question, “What are you giving up for Lent?” is surpassed by another: “What do you hope to lay hold of during Lent?”

For Relevant Magazine, Caryn Rivadeneira shares “Why Ash Wednesday Matters”. This can serve a quick catch-up for those who are just realizing that the Easter “began” last week. (I recorded my first Ash Wednesday experience back HERE if you need a vicarious well to draw from.)

 

Sunday Six-Pack (29)

Posted on by
2

Welcome back to the Six-Pack, my friends!

After a couple weeks of family vacation, and one additional Saturday (plus one extra day!) to get myself back up to speed, here is the latest installment of internet keepers.

As per usual, these articles are typically ministry-minded or faith-focused, with enough flexibility to toss in the occasional who-knows-what.

If six is more than you can handle today, begin with my two *Picks of the Week*, and move from there.

For a steady stream of such links, follow me on Twitter ( @JasonBandura ) to the right of this post.  Sharp quotes and solid articles are tweeted 3-4 times daily.

Today’s edition:

1) Recommended: A Diary of Private Prayer
This quick book review is getting the first slot this week because of the value that could be discovered by following. I have used Baillie’s prayer guide on and off over the past few years–what a gem of a book! If your prayer life could use structuring and support, read this post. And then do some online shopping for a used copy of potentially life-shifting book.

2) Why You Shouldn’t Have a Position on LGBTQ’s (*PICK OF THE WEEK*)
How does your church handle discussions surrounding homosexuality and gay rights? Less than comfortably, I imagine.  The following article sprung out of a Facebook post that opened with this: To the question, “What is your position on LGBTQ?” I think the best answer (in these times) is “we have no position” The question itself misses the point of any other answer? Agree?

3) We Wait Too Long to Train Our Leaders
A recent piece from the Harvard Business Review raises the corporate equivalent of what I’ve long thought about churches.  To my ministry friends, what do you think your church has missed out on, as a result of under-developed leaders?

4) Uh Oh, Canada!
Nearly six months ago, Leadership Journal’s blog published this short piece summarizing the results from a study that indicates that young adults are departing from churches at some unfortunate rates. One of the major reasons has nothing to do with Young Adults Ministries.

5) The Myth of Human Progress (*PICK OF THE WEEK*)
Some have posited that postmodernism’s birth sprung from such catastrophic events as the two world wars, in which humanity’s confidence in itself and in its inevitable escalation upon the evolutionary ladder were cracked beyond repair. Living squarely within a generation labeled “postmodern”, I am not certain that the illusion has dissipated at all.  This article, from TruthDig spells out some such thoughts quite poignantly.

6) Ministry Lessons From the Good Times and the Bad
Ministry is certainly an “up and down” experience on multiple levels simultaneously. Wrapped into any graph of a pastor’s journey are facets of personal life, inner journey, and societal dynamics, not to mention the unique and multiple-layered movements occurring within a given congregation or denomination. Don Carson, for TGC, recently highlighted lessons he’d gleaned in the highs and the lows of decades of ministry.

Blessings on you, my friends.  May your weekend be refreshing in rest, play, and worship.

YOUR TURN: Direct other readers to the best stuff above by making a comment below, or weigh in on what you read.  Your input makes this post better!

[You can subscribe to this blog via RSS or email, in the upper right corner of this page.]

Lent is a Wilderness Season

Posted on by
Reply

Early in Luke’s gospel, he details the rise of John the Baptist’s public ministry.  His third chapter begins by rooting John in time by surrounding him with the “vital statistics” of his day:

1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Most of these names mean little to today’s reader; most of these places are unknown. But in John’s (and Jesus’) day, these were the high rollers in the power centers. These were the figures writing the rules and making the waves.

And fascinatingly, God uses them as the background music for the scene that He is unfolding.

Into this time and place, God’s word arrived.

His message would inaugurate His move. And that word was delivered to a no-man in the no-man’s land: John in the wilderness.

Judean Wilderness

The wilderness of Scripture is the academy of the saints.

It was the scene of Moses’ leadership course in Midian, as Yahweh transformed an angry murderer into a surrendered deliverer. It was the venue for Israel’s forty-year shaping, which cost them an entire generation, on how to live as freed people in the Promised Land. It was also the setting for Jesus to be tested by the Adversary, ahead of his public ministry.

Luke depicts John the Baptist, also in the wilderness, seeking and listening.  The human eye can quickly glaze over at the vastness and blankness of the wilderness, and one small man in its midst can seem like dust.

Yet Luke, having sketched all the people and places where logic might expect Divinity to deliver His message, is explicit that this word is addressed to the simple one in the silent place: “The word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.”

Lent is a wilderness season.

It drives us into modes of reflection and recounting. We agree with God on the terms of full access that He might search us and freely reveal—even rebuke—whatever that He finds.  The wilderness, by its nature, is a refining environment. It swallows those who ill-equipped to dwell there. It silently pushes people toward precipices, where survival is uncertain.

Lent, by its nature, is the seeking of such an environment.  As did John, we place ourselves in a wilderness setting—via fasting or forgiving, reflecting or repenting—because we know that people who are at the ends of themselves, dwelling on the ends of the earth, are often those upon whom the life-giving word of God falls first.