eAnother busy week in the Christian Blogosphere. Add to that me cheating last week with my weekend reading, and we’ve got ourselves quite the list. Without further ado:
- Post September 11, it’s good to remember to separate patriotism from religion. Paul Vander Klay at Think Christian offers up a primer to do just that.
- Speaking of the American church, Matt Appling writes a letter to the North American Church in the same vein as the letters to the 7 Churches in Asia found in Revelation, but with a little more snark 😉
- Shawn Smucker gives some food for thought on how we water down the Gospel with random references to John 3:16.
- Our culture is driven by measured success. And as bloggers we’re tempted to apply the world’s standards to our own effectiveness.
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Ryan Tate considers how much we allow the world to guide us.
- While Michelle DeRusha encourages us to look for the signs God may be putting in our path.
One thing I’m passionate about is the church being the means to develop our spiritual gifts, not a crutch to be expected to do everything for us, and that the church only grows when those gifts are applied.
- I’m not the only one who feels that way, check out John Olds’ thoughts on “Unity of Community” over at the Christian Manifesto.
- Not only do we not put our talents to work, we don’t always rely on the power of the Creator of the universe. Imagine if we did, what our prayer life would be like? Like when Joshua prayed for the Sun to stand still. Good thoughts by Steven Furtick.
- At the same time, Francis Chan challenges us that “a nonbeliever can accomplish a lot of what you’re doing.” via Catalyst Space
- And Mercedes is challenged not to take the safe road and reflects on how just going with the flow at her church is “safe”.
- Leeana Tankersley has to fight the temptation to drown herself out and instead trust in God.
- Related, Brad Huebert has some compelling thoughts on facing our fears over at Sarah Markley’s blog
- Sharon Norris Elliot gives some good advice on ingredients our ministry needs, like peas and carrots.
Youth ministry deserves its own set of bullets
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Over at Called to Youth Ministry, we are reminded to follow the example of Jesus and focus our attention on a few in order to reach the many.
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Going back a couple of weeks Dan Edelen has more thoughts on youth ministry at Cerulean Sanctum
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Also looking back a ways is a guest post by Nick Croft over at Make A Difference to One on praying for our youth. I think I already linked this one before, but it’s worth reading again in context with the above reading.
For our own personal ministry, we are called to the Great Commission and to lead by example in love.
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It’s been “how to share your faith week” at getupwithgod, lots of great insight and example.
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Jim Foreman reminds us that it’s not necessarily a good thing to be a “jack of all trades and a master of none” in ministry.
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Brian Dodd looks for leadership that turns heads.
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Herb Halstead reminds us that “the world will know you are my disciples by your love”
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Dusty Rayburn has really been digging into Paul’s writings recently. Here, he is looking to unite in love.
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Ron Edmundson led a great discussion on what kind of “customers” Christians should be.
It’s been great to get to know other bloggers since I started connecting with so many on Twitter.
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“Rejoice when others rejoice” It’s always encouraging to see others do well and as a blogger who someday hopes to publish I’m very excited to see Billy Coffey’s new book coming out. Now available for presale!
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I learned a little more about Glynn Young over at New Day Rising thanks to Russell Holloway.
All for now. Enjoy reading and have a blessed weekend!
Fatha Frank,
The Lord has really blessed me with encouragement this week through my fellow bloggers, like you. Thank you for the encouraging include. I am so grateful to be a part of this community.
Ryan and Jim's blogs were among my favorites this week.
Also, I have to say that of all the aggregating posts, I love the way you format yours the most. It really makes me want to click on every link 🙂 Awesome job.
You're welcome, Herb, I'm grateful to be an encouragement. Glad you like the format (issues this week aside). It's a lot of work and every time I think about scaling it down, I struggle to decide which posts to leave out. And to think of how many other posts are out there that I missed!
good gathering!
Thanks for posting over to the Called to Youth Ministry site! Your work is a blessing.
Nathaniel, thanks for coming by! I didn't have a name to connect with your site. Really liked the article and the site. I'll be returning often