That’s where I’m at after reading CNN’s article on Bristol Palin, teen daughter of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin, who gave “her first interview since giving birth.” Chances are that the media and the professional bloggers will be all over this soon, if not already. But I just have to get it out there since most of my local readers won’t see it on CNN.
Tag: Religion
Blessed are the Pacesetters (1)
Driving has become a vital element to our daily lives. Many of us commute to work, and though mass transit has found a greater role in recent years, we often still find ourselves driving a portion of the distance. We also drive to our supermarkets, Wal-Marts, shopping malls, sports events at professional and pee-wee levels, friends’ houses, family reunions, etc. Without our vehicles, we would be “trapped” within a short distance from our birth places.
Instead, we get to enjoy the open road. Of course, some locales are more open than others. You wouldn’t consider rush hour in any major city to be the open road. But you would find yourself in steep competition to get ahead, to move further in less time than the vehicle next to you.
Reflections on Ezekiel 47:12
I had the privilege of preaching again on Sunday, January 25th. I had actually written the sermon for a service back in February of last year, but at the last minute decided that it wasn’t right for the audience or the setting. Instead, it became the jump off point for my latest book project.
As our pastoral staff prepared for the coming of 2009, our lead pastor was searching for a theme for the year. In October we relaunched our home groups program by team-preaching on three of the tribes of Israel. One of those sermons was about Joseph, and the topic of the message was Fruitfulness. Out of that message came three words: fruitfulness, increase, addition. From those words came our theme for 2009: Fruitfulness: Living lives of increase and addition. With the lead pastor ready to launch the theme, I found the opening I needed to preach a sermon entitled, “The Useless Tree.”
Now, I’m not going to tell you a lot about that message because you can listen to it if you’d like. Instead I’d like to share some extra thoughts that came out of a time of prayer this past Sunday night. We have started a four-week emphasis on prayer on Sunday nights, and I quickly found myself jumping into a routine that I enjoyed in a previous church. Out of that time of prayer came the following reflections on Ezekiel 47:12.
In Case You Ever Wondered . . .
YouTube is an amazing tool on the internet. Not only does it showcase commercials, homemade video messages, and various other videos, it is a vast platform to spread a message. I ran across one of these messages while looking for a TV spot to open this Sunday’s sermon.
Sometimes we wonder why the doors of our church only let visitors in once. Why don’t they come a second time? Is it something we’re doing, or not doing?
This video, by the Beyond Relevance guys, is a peek into the answer to that question.
Book Review: All In
Risk is a part of our lives, almost every moment of every day. In the past twelve months, salmonella ran through 42 states because of what some thought was tomatoes, though many would confess they don’t have a clue where it came from. And now it’s been linked to peanut butter. From driving in your car, to opening a milk carton, risk is everywhere. Whether we realize it or not, we’re risk takers. For some of us, the risks are more obvious. For example, this past summer my mother went parachuting. (I’m not ready for that one yet.) The real question is, are we taking the risks that matter? That’s point of Michael DiMarco’s book, “All In: Gambling on Life, Love & Faith in a World of Risk ”
Give Me A Reason
My wife and I often find ourselves in different rooms in the house during the day. She’s kind of a neat freak and baker, and I’m more of a computer-book nerd. When we get in our individual modes, she’s usually off in the kitchen and I’m in my home office. My office doesn’t have a traditional door, just a couple of curtains hung in the open thruway. So when she has the radio on up in the kitchen, I get bits and pieces of what she’s listening to while I’m trying to do my own thing.
She was recently listening to a radio program, and the speaker mentioned how when he had honest questions about God and Christianity, those around him who were Christians failed to fulfill a task we should all be ready for.
Chris MacKinnon 