Twitter Updates for 2008-05-31

• Starting the day with our Saturday morning mens group. #
• @karen_m welcome karen to the world of twitter! #
• Hanging out at the office before Saturday night because of a showing at the house… Thinking about a fruity smoothy to keep the energy up #

Twitter Updates for 2008-05-30

• It’s hard to get excited about watching the nba playoffs when they freely admit they screwed up the end of the last game. #
• MacBook has arrived. Freedom has been restored. #

A new companion

Yesterday I received in the mail my new companion [sounds a bit awkward]. I sold my personal Macbook several months ago for a good deal, but I’ve really missed my traveling friend. My new machine is exactly like the previous one except for the color. I had a black one and bought a refurbished white Macbook. Here she is sitting on my desk at work. 

I named my previous Macbook Apolonia, the name of Michael Corleone’s first wife in The Godfather. I’m thinking this one is going to be named Angela. The beautiful purity of her white finish reminds me of Angela from the Office. Hopefully she won’t be as uptight as her though. 

For those Apple users out there who care, I decided not to do the standard system migration that is available choosing instead to just move over the info that I needed. It’s made me aware of how much junk I need to clean off my iMac at home after several previous transfers. It’s probably a bit bloated. I also realized during the transfer of files and apps how few apps that I have had to pay for I actually use. Outside of the iLife suite which comes on every Mac, I installed iWork [Pages, Keynote, & Numbers] and Microsoft Excel. That’s it! Everything else I use is a totally free program available for download. 

So, to all you PC users thinking about switching who get turned away by the higher priced Apple product, think about this. After purchasing this machine [you can get a refurb at a deep discount by the way here] the only software I added was a package that costs $79 and another one that costs $150 [Microsoft Office 2008, Student/Teacher Edition of which I only installed Excel]. 

If anyone out there is interested in being set free for the tyranny of Microsoft and entering the great light of Apple, Inc. as I have previously shared, I am an evangelist for Apple computers as well as Jesus. 

The Secret Message Teaser

As I prepare for our next message series which begins tomorrow [Saturday], I thought I would write up a little teaser intro to the series. I’m really excited about this series because I love teaching from the Gospels and the fact that we’re focusing specifically on the parables makes it even better. Hopefully the following intro. will raise your level of anticipation for this series as well. 

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus’ disciples ask him the question, “Why do you speak to them [referring to the crowds] in parables?” It’s a fair question given that Jesus has just told the Parable of the Sower and the Seed, providing little clarification for the crowd as to the exact meaning of the story and the impression is given from the way the text moves that there were some in the crowd who left a bit confused. Jesus’ response only adds to the mystery when he says, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.” 

The word parable literally means “to throw alongside.” These short stories that Jesus tells throughout the gospels which comprise a third of his teaching in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark & Luke, deal with abstract spiritual truths by “throwing them alongside” the ordinary details of first century living. But for those who originally heard these stories and for many of us still today, we might be tempted to ask the question, “What exactly is Jesus getting at? What is he trying to communicate through these stories?” 

You get the sense when you read the Gospels that Jesus is OK with a little bit of mystery. He doesn’t panic when the crowds return a look of confusion. Instead, he seems to trust that in time, the meaning will be revealed… “To you it has been given to know the secrets… to them it has not been given.” 

These timeless stories do not treat the God of the Universe as an object to  be held, but a dynamic relationship to be experienced. They invite us forward in the journey of patiently and fervently seeking after truth with full recognition that whatever we find will only draw us even deeper into our search to know “the way, the truth, and the life.” The parables challenge and engage the assumptions we bring to the questions of our faith… assumptions about God, about humanity, and the relationship that God has with God’s world, and within these stories, Jesus goes so far as to tell his disciples that within them lies the secrets of the Kingdom of God. 

And if you want to uncover them… If you really desire to understand them better… Then, as you would with any good secret… you have to lean in close… to focus your attention and listen carefully… To open up your hearts, your minds, and your eyes to see God… to see yourself… and to see the world in a new way. 

Jesus said it this way, “Let anyone with ears listen!”

And for those who do… Jesus offers this word…

“blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.”

Twitter Updates for 2008-05-29

• Calling our new members to invite them to our new member picnic this Sunday. #

General Conference Initiatives

1. New and Renewed Congregations
   • Find people on the edge of society not now being reached by United Methodist congregations
   • Start 400 new churches outside of the United States by Dec. 31, 2012
   • Recruit 1,000 new church planters to start 650 new churches in the United States with 50% of these being racial/ethnic congregations
   • Develop new international churches and revitalize town & country and urban churches
2. Global Health Initiative
   • Work with international partners to reduce by 66% malaria related deaths of childrenunder the age of 5
   • 60% of all our annual conferences involved in health care advocacy around health care access, disease prevention and infant mortality
   • Deploy 53 new missionaries for global health for Africa, Asia and Latin America
   • Expand our ministry to substance abuse and related violence ministries by 20%
3. Address the eradication of Poverty
   • Increase by 25 % our ministry to the poor through our existing 102 mission groups
   • Place 50 indigenous leaders in poor locales to be in ministry with children and women
   • Develop 5 Pilot Projects to address poverty in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the US
   • Train at least one advocate for the poor in every annual conference.
4. Developing Christian Leaders
   • Short-Term Mission experiences for 100 young persons
   • Train 9,500 persons in Africa and Asia in theology, church administration, evangelism, discipleship formation and mission outreach.
   • Develop a network of 100 prophetic clergy and laity around the world to speak for and work for social justice
   • Increase by 25 % the number of candidates for ordained ministry under the age of 35
   • Increase by 20 % the number of women senior pastors serving large membership churches in the US.

Twitter Updates for 2008-05-28

• Just announced Book contest winner! http://tinyurl.com/4tggl2 #

And the winner is…

First, let me say thanks to all of you who dropped me a comment to enter your name into the Book Giveaway drawing. It was fun. Unfortunately, there can only be one winner. This contest’s prize goes to Goat a.k.a. Brian Atkinson. I chuckled when his name was drawn because Goat was the first to comment on the post and shared this.

I recognize this as a blatant attempt for comments.
Sign me up.

The Goat

 So, yes, Goat was correct. It was a blatant attempt for comments, and he was rewarded for giving into the pressure. Thanks again to everyone who participated and be looking for the Book Giveaway Part. II soon.

Goat, Let me know which of the three books you’d like to receive a copy of and I’ll get it to you. 

Prayer for the Week

As I’ve shared before, one of the disciplines that I enjoy is the Daily Office. Each week, there is a different “prayer for the week” that you read everyday. I thought I would share this week’s prayer. 

Almighty and merciful God, in your goodness keep me, I pray, from all things that may hurt me, that I, being ready both in mind and body, may accomplish with a free heart those things which belong to your purpose; through Jesus Christ my Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. AMEN. 

When I worked with High School students, I use to say to them that maturity in faith comes when we agree with God’s evaluation of what is truly dangerous to our lives. I know that my life changed dramatically when I began to see the Bible in a different way; not a set of rules and regulations designed to “steal” life, but rather a guide for experience the “fullness” of life. I think that is why John 10:10 where Jesus says that he has come to “give life and life to the full,” has always been a key verse for me. That thought stuck in my mind today as I read this prayer for the week. 

Twitter Updates for 2008-05-27

• @adamwc check out this chair. Cheap and very comfy. http://tinyurl.com/yoejyb #
• A great memorial day with the fam has come to a close. Got a little sunburned and watched Juno tonight with the wife. A good day. #

Next Page »