For The Men...

Mark Driscoll did a fantastic hard hitting message called Trial: Marriage and Men.
In it he discusses 8 catergories that men can tend to fall into:

2. Your Manhood

Like Adam, the sins of men fall into two general categories: sins of comission (doing what you’re not supposed to do) and sins of omission (not doing what you’re supposed to do). This leads chauvinistic or cowardly tendencies:

Chauvinism

1. No Sissy Stuff Sam: whatever women do, do the opposite
   
2. Success and Status Stewart: masculinity = material success
   
3. Give’em Hell Hank: angry and abusive
   
4. I’m the Boss Bob: domineering and controlling; in authority, not under authority

Cowardice

1. Little Boy Larry: never grew up, disorganized, lives with his mother, etc.
   
2. Sturdy Oak Owen: absolutely dependable but emotionally absent
   
3. Hyper-Spiritual Henry: Hides behind religious behavior and “God talk.” Talks at you but not to you.
   
4. Good Time Gary: irresponsible life of the party

(the full summary of the message is available HERE.)

There is some really challenging stuff here for us guys, so if you want to watch the message or listen to the audio see below:

AUDIO:


VIDEO:


Let me know what you thought of the message.

A Beautiful 7th Century Prayer

Found this 7th century Lorica (breastplate) prayer (for protection) from Leonard Sweet on twitter:

The arms of God be around my shoulders,
The touch of the Holy Spirit upon my head,
The sign of Christ's cross upon my forehead,
The sound of the Holy Spirit in my ears,
The fragrance of the Holy Spirit in my nostrils,
The vision of heaven's company in my eyes,
The conversation of heaven's company on my lips,
The work of God's Church in my hands,
The service of God and the neighbour in my feet,
A home for God in my heart,
And to God, the Father of all, my entire being.
Amen.

Fursa of Ireland established monesteries in Ireland, France and England.

20's - A Time To Experiment!

I found a great post for the 20 somethings on Mark Batterson's (Lead Pastor of National Community Church) blog:

Not sure why I'm sharing this. But here goes. Hope it inspires someone who is trying to figure out what they want to be when they grow up. That includes me by the way!

In 1952, Albert Schweitzer won the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian efforts in equatorial Africa. But let share his back story. He woke up on a summer morning in 1896 and said, "While outside the birds sang I came to the conclusion that until I was thirty I could consider myself justified in devoting myself to scholarship and the arts, but after that I would devote myself directly to serving humanity."
What a fascinating perspective on his twenties! He felt justified in devoting them to scholarship and the arts.
Here's my thought: what if we viewed our twenties as a decade of experimentation? That concept comes from serving a congregation that is 67% single twenty-somethings so I know how stressed out twenty-somethings can get over their career path. I think twenty-somethings feel way too much pressure to find the perfect career yesterday and advance as far up the ladder as fast as possible.
Can I push back a little? What if you approached opportunities as experiments? What if you tried your hand at different things. Don't worry about your career path! Focus on your spiritual path. Build a resume of spirit-led adventures that may or may not further your career or education. But they will further the kingdom of God.

Click HERE to read the rest.

We definitly do take it all a little too seriously. What adventures have you had when you took a leap of faith and tried an 'experiment' out?

Leave a comment and share some off your journey with us.

Evolutionary Thinking Is Unnatural!

I found this fantastic post on Ps James Macphersons blog:


THE LATEST psychological research suggests evolutionary thinking is unnatural.

Research published in the latest edition of The Scientific American, has found that, regardless of the parents' religious beliefs or lack-thereof, children aged 8-10 give exclusively creationist answers about the origin of life.

It's only after the age of 10 that children of evolutionist parents begin to give evolutionary answers as to how things came to be.

Researchers claim a "cognitive glitch that invades our rationalist thought whenever we’re pondering the subject of life’s origins" causes us to naturally believe in creation, until taught to think otherwise.
Click HERE to keep reading.

Please do leave a comment and let me know what you thought of the post.

New Ways Of Doing Church?

Ever wanted to visit a drive-in church? Now's your chance... click HERE.

Have you ever visited an on-line church service? Try HERE.

So what did you think?
Have you experienced any other creative church environments?
Do these qualify as a church?
Please leave a comment and lets get chatting : )

Funny / Inspirational Video

I found this awesome clip off Ron Edmondson's blog via Twitter.
It just goes to show...



... you should never know what opportunities a day holds nor should you underestimate people!

Let us know what you thought by leaving a comment.

We Need To Become Like Children...

Why does Jesus say that unless we become like children we cannot enter the Kingdom of God?

Matthew 18:2-4 (New International Version)

²He called a little child and had him stand among them. ³And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

What are your thoughts?
Leave a comment and we can get a conversation going. I'd love to grow from your insights.