Saturday Six-Pack (31)

Another weekend, another Six-Pack!

That sentence may be spoken with a couple different meanings as another work week ends. For the part of Wondering & Wandering, that phrase describes the latest serving of my web readings that I’ve deemed worth sharing.

As per usual, most articles are ministry-minded or faith-focused, with enough flexibility protected to cover some who-knows-what as well.

If six swamps you, start with my two *Picks of the Week*.

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) Why Are Churches of Christ Shrinking? (*PICK OF THE WEEK*)
I am part of a currently shrinking fellowship; the statistics bear this out. Many theories exist, I am sure. This piece verbalized a number of my own fuzzy thoughts better than I have done myself. I also think there is much packed into the subtitle alone: “A Left-Brained Fellowship in a Right-Brained World”. The link above goes to part one of the article. The sequel post is HERE.  Thanks to James Nored at the Missional Outreach Network for sharing.

2) The New Tent-Makers
I am not currently a tent-maker pastor, but I have wondered often if far more ministry workers won’t be bi-vocational in the future, myself included. Leadership Journal follows two current church planters as examples of what it COULD look like.

3) Why Nice People Kill Churches
This week marked my first visit to the blog of Paul Alexander.  The piece that grabbed me is about staff movement which isn’t as much of a reality in my little church as in some larger congregations. More than anything, the title resonated with something I’ve long considered, and a few of the more specific points contain valuable insights if generalized just a bit.

4) How Minimum Targets Can Mean Maximum Impact
Trust Dumb Little Man to come up with something smart! If you’ve ever experienced frustration with your inability to meet goals or to chart progress, these four tips just might make the difference between another serving of failure and a fresh dose of success.

5) Uncommon Callings (*PICK OF THE WEEK*)
Skye Jethani is a writer that I find myself really blessed by recently. His book “With” is one of my best reads in the past couple years.  This Jethani offering breaks down the struggle many pastors have with really grasping the “work worlds” of their church members. Some great insights here for all who work in churches.

6) 12 Amazing Life Lessons You Can Learn Through Science
Here’s Dumb Little Man with his second offering of the week! Taking the discovery of penicillin as an illustration, here are a dozen encouraging tidbits that might provide you direction or inspiration on how to take a step upward and forward in whatever venture you’re currently part of.

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!

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Saturday Six-Pack (10)

Welcome to some weekend “Wandering & Wondering”.

In an effort to add some information and inspiration to your Saturday, today’s Six-Pack follows the usual guidelines.  Most articles are faith-focused or ministry-geared, with the “disorderly pile of who-knows-what” tagline at the top of this page catching everything outside of that!

Today’s collection:

1) Twelve Months, Twelve Religions
Out of Ur provides this springboard into more extensive blog reading OR the buying of a book.  If you only have one click to spend on this story, some of the comments after the short article are worth the time.

2) What the Holy Spirit Can Do for Your Preaching
Jim Cymbala sees radical need for churches to be powerful witnesses for Christ in our world.  What does your preaching really need to fuel and feed toward this end?  It needs the Spirit of God.

3) Prayer is Hard Work
Though prayer is instinctive, it is also difficult labor. David M’Intyre makes and explains this point in his book The Hidden Life of Prayer.  Tim Challies provides this excerpt.

4) By What Standard?
A few years ago, a documentary called Collision was made where Douglas Wilson debated Christopher Hitchens on Is Christianity Good for the World? Hundreds of hours of footage was shot and edited down to 90 minutes of solid debate and conversation.  Discussion and highlights of this work can be found here.

5) Eulogies and Dyslogies for Charles Colson
Colson passed away last month.  I found no better post dedicated to his life and passing than this one from InternetMonk.  If, for whatever reason, you don’t know much about Charles Colson, this post will still contain plenty for you.

6) 14 Action-Inducing Lessons from Benjamin Franklin
Dumb Little Man has provided a “get moving” post here that features some great quotes.  Provocative enough to nudge the most planted butt off the couch.  Read it, and get rolling!

That’s a wrap.  Treasure the day, friends–renew yourself and reverence God.