Generousity of Evangelical Christians

This morning I read an encouraging blog post by Atlanta pastor Shaun King.  He had observed how a large portion of the aid and volunteers in Haiti were evangelical Christians.  He then cites an article in the liberal NY Times that makes the same observation. 

It is encouraging to see such generousity from the church in the US especially when we are becoming a smaller and smaller percentage of society.  It seems that others are taking notice of our love for our neighbors. 

I encourage you to read the entire post here.

Do you think that evangelicals are leading the way in society towards compassion and generousity to those in need?

I'm a Christ Follower

Interesting little parody of the Mac vs. PC commercials.

What do you think?

Total Transformation

Last week I heard someone speaking about total conversion.  He suggested that we need a conversion of our mind, emotion, and our will.  I like that.

I think that it is easy to speak of being saved or born again as something that you believe in your mind.  This is true, but belief is not just a belief in the mind. Salvation is intellectional.  But it is also emotional and volitional. 

If we only have a intellectual conversion, then we may find ourself to be like the soil in the parable of the sower that sees the seed choked out when the cares of the world make life difficult.  We must allow our conversion to invade our mind, our emotion, and our will.  As Romans 12:1 says we must be living sacrifices.  Transformation must be all of us, not just a part.

Has your will been converted?  Do the emotions of your inmost being proclaim that Jesus is Lord?  How complete is your conversion?

Legacy Conference 2010

Hope to see you all at the Legacy Conference this summer.

Lecrae - Far Away (Haiti Relief)

This is Lecrae's song Far Away from the Hip Hop for Haiti concert last weekend. All proceeds from the concert and from purchasing the song are being sent to Churches Helping Churches to support work in Haiti.

Multi-racial churches on the rise

Micheal Emerson suggests that protestant churches are turning the corner on racially integrating churches.  In his article about it, he ends by saying "The Christian color wall, solidly in place at least since the Civil War, is cracking. And those cracks may eventually grow to the point that the wall crumbles. Time will tell".


What do you think?  Are we moving in America towards more racially diverse churches that better reflect the kingdom of God?  Or do you think this is just an isolated reality?

Seeking God's heart

"Grant me, O Lord, to know what I ought to know; to love what I ought to love; to praise that which is most pleasing to Thee; to esteem that which appeareth to Thee valuable; to abhor that which is filthy in Thy sight.
Suffer me not to judge according to the hearing of the ears of ignorant men; but to determine upon matters, both visible and spiritual with true judgement and, above all things, ever to seek Thy good will and pleasure".
Thomas A' Kempis - The Imitation of Christ

Make this my prayer, oh God.  Make this the cry of my heart.

Imago Dei

"We stand in awe of the ocean, the thunderstorm, the sunset, the mountains, but we pass by a human being without notice even though the person is God's most magnificent creation".
Augustine

Each person is created in the image of God.  Oh, if we could learn to live this out in how we treat one another.

Prayer

"We take up our prayer with flighty thoughts, willy-nilly, and rush to get it over with, as if it were an incidental, though unavoidable, bother--- and not the center of our life, as it should be"
Theophan the Recluse

This is convicting and I must admit that I am often guilty as charged.

STOP!

Come away from rush and hurry

To the stillness of God's peace

From our vain ambition's worry

Come to Christ to find release

Come away from noise and clamor

Life's demands and frenzied pace

Come to join the people gathered

Here to seek and find God's face

This is the first verse to a hymn written by Marva J. Dawn.

We live in a fast paced time.  Our country is a nation that expects and demands busyness.  Working hard is a good thing and an important part of holistically living for God.

But for many, we have denied our need to rest.  We struggle to stop.

In the Old Testament, God instituted the Sabbath which comes from the root meaning "to cease".  Yet today we often act like there is no need to stop.  We wear terms like tired, exhausted, or drained as badges of honor to validate our worth or even our spiritual life.

Yet the fact that these terms exist should be reminders in themselves that we have limits and need to honor God by honoring those human limitations.

Could I suggest that stopping might be an honorable thing? Would it be stretching to propose that resting can be a spiritual act of service to God?  Am I being outrageous to say, that being too busy is actually a boast of pride against the sufficiency of God Himself?

Do you need to cease?  Have you taken time to stop lately?  When do you regularly rest?