The Nines

If you are a ministry leader, you need to check out The Nines.

This is a free web-conference. It has 60+ speakers right now. Each speaker gets 9 minutes to share one big idea with you. And then the next speaker is on. While you could watch all day, it also gives you the freedom to pop in and out.

All on 9/9/2009 and 9:09am.

I love the concept.

The speaker line-up is impressive: Mark Driscoll, John Ortberg, Dave Ferguson, Alan Hirsch, Brian McLaren, Mike Breaux, and lots more.

Did I mention that it’s free? But, you do need to register.

Register here. And see the full list of speakers as well.

I’m in.

“Restore Your Faith in Humanity” Friday #2

Here is today’s “Restore Your Faith in Humanity” Friday. The Back-to-School edition.

Enjoy!

Luke 15: The Incarnation

Each week I meet with two separate groups of guys for the purpose of sharing life, praying, and studying the Bible and (hopefully) growing as more mature disciples of Jesus. In each group there are three guys (me and two others). We call these groups Triads. The concept of the Triad is outlined in Greg Ogden’s amazing book, “Transforming Discipleship.”

Ogden wrote a companion book to Transforming Discipleship called “Discipleship Essentials.” Discipleship Essentials is, for lack of a better phrase, a discipleship workbook. Each week you study a specific topic, from the Incarnation to Sin to Grace to Worship to Prayer to Giving to the Fruit of the Holy Spirit. Needless to say, it’s got a lot of good information to be shared over the course of a year. Each week consists of a Core Point, a memorization verse, an in-depth Bible study and an extra reading.

All of that to say…this last week, with my guys, we looked at Luke 15 and the famous story of the Lost Son. Ogden points out some ideas in his writing I think are worth mentioning here.

There is much familiar about this parable; the selfish son, his wild living, the father who welcomes him back with arms wide open. But, as always, I find things in the Bible I have never noticed.

First off, he states that you can find both the Incarnation and the Cross in this parable, even though neither are specifically mentioned. Today, the Incarnation. Later in the week, the Cross.

The Incarnation is the idea that God came to earth as the person Jesus. He leaves his home to meet us sinners where they can be found. 

In this parable, it states:
20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. (Luke 15:20 ESV)

The father, although sinned against by his son, leaves his home to meet his boy where he is. He doesn’t stand with his arms folded on his front porch, looking down at his son, expecting an apology. He doesn’t ignore the boy or pretend as though he doesn’t see him. No, he leaves his home and meets his wayward son on the road back home.

And this is the Incarnation of Christ. Later in the week, I’ll write about the Cross in this parable.

Valentine’s Day Gift for My Wife

Keri and I have never really celebrated Valentine’s Day. When we first got married, we would make gifts for each other. I made a mug once with a ridiculous picture of me on it and one year I made a cat out of miniature 3 Musketeer bars. 

This year, I went a different route. 

For Valentine’s Day, I presented Keri a picture of a young girl and told her that I had sponsored her in Keri’s honor for Valentine’s Day.

Her name is Semira and she is a 4 year old girl living in the HIV/AIDS and malaria ravished country of Ethiopia. She lives with her mother who is sometimes employed carrying stones. The average working adult in her community makes $23/month. Semira is young, but can’t go to school yet because of financial hardships. 

Our meager $32/month will help her get to school as well as get healthcare, food, clean water, life-skills training, and an opportunity to hear about Jesus.

Semira is the second child we will sponsored through Compassion. We have sponsored Kumar in India for the last nearly 10 years, since he was 7 years old. Now he is approaching 17 and it’s been fun to watch him grow and hear about his life in the letters he sends us. He always refers to us as his mommy and daddy; his biological parents have both died. He is following Christ in a predominantly Hindu and Muslim country.

If you are interested in sponsoring a child through Compassion, you may do so here. I would recommend choosing a child who has been waiting longer than 6 months and/or is living in a country ravished by HIV/AIDS.

If you decide to sponsor, please let me know!

**UPDATE: I was informed that the links to the information about the kids is not public. Sorry to all of those who clicked.**

Why “Share (20) & Prayer (4:3-4)”? **PART 3**

Read **PART 1** here.
Read **PART 2** here.

Another reason for doing “Share (20) & Prayer (4:3-4)” is because I believe in the power of the internet and social media.

The goal of “Share (20) & Prayer (4:3-4)” is to raise $5,000 in 40 days using only this blog, Facebook, and my personal email prayer list. I am not printing letters or stuffing envelopes. I am not buying postage. The only thing I am investing is time and energy spent online.

I have seen people do some pretty extraordinary things on Facebook. There are countless numbers of groups dedicated to sending missionaries on their journeys. There are people promoting their causes; anything from ending world poverty to selling t-shirts for boys that look like they belong on girls. There is power on these sites.

I don’t want to harness power. I just want to use the channels to share our message. For example, one of the first people to give to our project was an alumni I had never met; never even heard of. But, through the grapevine that is Facebook, she was able to partner with us in sharing and praying.

If this is successful, imagine all the possibilities that could open up.

::abide:: is coming.

I am excited about this new thing. I’ll give you the details soon!