Tag: Christianity

Bible, Christian Living

Be Careful How You Listen

Chris

“No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a bowl or hids it under a bed. Instead, the person puts it on a lampstand so those who come in will see the light” (Luke 8:16 NCV).

Many of us have heard these words of Jesus from our youth. We have sang, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.” It has been paired with the thoughts of being the salt and light of the world, and to be a light unto dark places.

But this verse is one slice of a greater message. While these are true statements and are implied and connected to these words from our Savior, they are part of something different.

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Christian Living, Ministry

Worship Theory on your Kindle

Chris

Worship Theory is now available on the Kindle from Amazon. That means you can read Worship Theory on your iPhone or iPad, your PC or Mac, and other smartphones like your Android and Blackberry. Besides the portability of reading on your Kindle or Kindle app, you save money. Worship Theory‘s Kindle Edition sells for just $4.99 USD.

Want to know what you’re getting into? You can see a preview of Worship Theory thanks to Amazon’s Kindle for the Web. The preview is available here, at the Worship Theory page on Amazon. At your right is a green box, with the button “Read first chapter FREE.” Click that button, and enjoy!

If you don’t already have the Kindle app that best meets your needs, just go to Amazon’s Kindle Store.

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Entertainment: Some helpful questions

Chris

Your mind has a filter system that processes every thought, action and experience, every day of your life. This system is trained to process life’s ins and outs by some key influencers.

One of these influencers is our entertainment. When we watch television and see real people in real life situations, we program our minds to respond in kind. Each time a similar situation comes into our lives, we will consider all of the options that are pre-recorded in our brains.

So a big question arises from these thoughts: “How do I know what entertainment is right for me?” Let’s take a look at some questions that can help us answer this for us.

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Filters Follow-up: Entertainment

Chris

On Sundays we are going through a series titled “Filters.” The basic idea is that every thought, act and experience of every day is processed through a filter system that God has given to us. This week we mentioned that our filters are stained, in need of cleansing and repair.

Our filters are tainted, but it isn’t the fault of the filters. We have asked them to keep certain things from our hearts and minds. A coffee filter is soiled because we have used it to color and flavor water for us so that we can enjoy our daily cup of coffee. The filters of our minds help us enjoy life by keeping the crud and garbage away for us.

The bulk of this week’s message centered around five key influencers that have shaped and stained our filter. Because of a couple of questions I received following the message, and to help us out in this area of our life, I thought I’d write about one of these influencers: entertainment.

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Developing Yourself and Others

Chris

Pastors and Leaders: Do you take the time to develop yourselves and/or others? Many of us have heard of or even read John Maxwell’s Developing the Leader Within You and Developing the Leaders Around You.

If you’re like me, you could read a lot of books in a year and forget what you read. Some of it will stick with me, but have I really taken the time to apply it? There are so many ways to develop and mentor ourselves and others, but if we get discouraged by the things that say it isn’t possible for us, we miss them.

As a staff pastor for nine years before becoming a senior pastor, I have served under those who made it a priority to include development and those who haven’t. I know the power of being developed. I also know that there are issues that keep us from including development in our ministry.

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Relationship via Prayer Meeting

Chris

Pastors, how do you begin a prayer meeting?

In the past I used to put a different prayer focus on each slide of a PowerPoint presentation. This would run throughout the meeting, giving constant direction for prayer, but leaving the meeting itself unstructured. Another model I’ve used is to set a quiet, personal atmosphere in the room by turning the lights on low, turn on some instrumental or intimate worship music.

In each case, those attending were welcome to come and go as they please. There was no opening or closing prayer. One could enter, pray or worship or read their Bible, and quietly walk out the door when finished. Occasionally we might have prayed together, but not regularly.

I have discovered the power of leading the group into prayer. Remember, I’ve led prayer groups for over fifteen years, and I’m no stranger to the prayer meeting. I’ve also seen it done a few ways that I have chosen not to employ in my own ministry. But recently I’ve stumbled on some of the benefits of being the pastor and leading the group in prayer.

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