Suggestions for topics can be left in the comments.  I doubt that they will have the level of … umm … enthusiasm that the comments on this post had, but we will see .

It has the main features that I want:

• voice to email
• voice to SMS text message
• voice to twitter.com
• voice to this blog!

Give it a try.  It’s free, and it’s a whole lot safer than trying to text while you drive (and more legal in some states!)

Read the below all the way through, please…

Pastor Removal from Television
Removal of Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, Charles Stanley, David Jeremiah and
other pastors from the airwaves.

An organization has been granted a Federal Hearing on the same subject …

I received this email about “the FCC rumor” on a day when I was already on edge.  It contained a long list of folks who “signed” the bottom and forwarded.  My response (below) was a bit pointed, but I wanted to put it here as a warning to those who would consider forwarding me such things:

Please check the Focus on the Family site at http://www.citizenlink.org/CLFeatures/A000000320.cfm

or the FCC site at http://www.fcc.gov/mb/enf/forms/rm-2493.html

or check http://TruthorFiction.com  or http://www.snopes.com  for clarification on this or other rumors

What I and many others see below is a list of about 750 well intentioned people who pass on rumors without checking them out – adding unnecessary load to the email servers that I support, and showing people outside the Church that Truth isn’t as important as we claim it to be.

  -Mark

PS: Yes, I had previously sent the forwarder to snopes.com, so it’s not like they weren’t warned.

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

I think I need to open up a can of “unreasonable” on a couple of situations.  Time to go buy a six-pack.

(via Gadgetopia)

A couple of things stick out.  First, this book is not about dealing with people who are already actively involved in your congregation.  It is about reaching the unchurched. It deals with intentionally looking for the questions and themes that are reflected in the arts and media of our culture and using them to start God-conversations in our community.

Secondly, this book is challenging Christians to make some changes. There is a focus on becoming missionaries to our own communities, meeting needs in order to get the opportunity to talk about God.  Some of us have  become very comfortable inside the church subculture, but by doing so we become isolated and insulated from our neighbors.  As the book points out, when we are all bent over in our "holy huddles", we should consider the view that we are giving to everyone else!

What’s next?  I don’t know.  I’m pretty sure that I’m the first to read this book in our church. I don’t think I’ll be the last, though.  This could spawn some good conversations – and maybe some changes.

-Blessings-

That’s what I’ve been working on this week instead of blogging – just so you know

On a more technical note, we managed to get a live link set up so that our son Tim could watch the dress rehearsal from 1000 miles away!

Boldness – acting with courage – is the deliberate, willful, acceptance of risk. It means trusting something or someone more than you trust your own fear.  That’s hard to do.

Why? 

My fear has helped me avoid several types of pain. It keeps my mouth shut when I might embarrass myself. It keeps me from making phone calls when I might be considered rude.  It keeps me from going to the doctor when I might not like what he has to say.

But like any wall that is built to keep badness out, it also keeps me locked in.

<sigh>

I hate it when I talk myself into a corner.

If I want my ideas to have more impact, I need to write them down.  This is where I do that.

I think I’ve found a new blog entry that’s going to bug me for a while.  I just wrote it. 

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."  Deut. 31:6

Pop Goes the Church: Should the Church Engage Pop Culture? by Tim Stevens Read more about this book…

If the reviews are even half right, this will be a challenging read (and worth passing around!).  The author – Tim Stevens – is on the staff at Granger Community Church, and has co-authored the Simply Strategic books with Tony Morgan.  Apparently, the book is in its second printing already, even though it just came out in late March.