Dave Bruskas, lead pastor at City on a Hill, recently wrote an article discussing the ugliest sin a minister can commit. It’s what Charles Spurgeon referred to as “ministerialism”…
“Charles Spurgeon warned his students over 140 years ago, ‘There are more secret snares than these, from which we can less easily escape; and of these the worst is the temptation of ministerialism–the tendency to read our Bibles as ministers, to pray as ministers, to get into the whole of our religion as not ourselves personally, but only relatively, concerned in it.’ (Lectures to My Students, p. 15) In other words, there are times I am not really a minister, I only play one in church.”
It’s becoming so obvious to me in my own experience that if I’m doing anything for reasons other than a sold-out, consuming, passionate love for the Lord and a pure joy from my relationship with Him — whatever I’m doing is meaningless.
I’m afraid to admit how many times I’ve led worship, studied the Word, or even preached as “a relatively concerned” person, rather than a true worshiper or servant of Christ.
Read the rest of the article here.
[via: the BRYANT BLOG]
A guy I work with was gracious enough to give me an invite to Joost.
In case you aren’t familiar with it, Joost is basically online television except that you can choose what you want to watch and when you want to watch it…and it’s FREE.
Think of it like Tivo, except that instead of setting it to record a show then watching it later — all of the shows are already recorded. You just have to choose what show/episode to watch. Oh, and they’ve basically eliminated commercials.
It could be great. I just signed up, so I’m still forming an opinion. Although I will say that there isn’t much to watch yet. But if they keep building their list of channels, this could be a really cool idea.
Find out more here:
PS - It’s still in the Beta phase, so if you’d like an invitation, leave a comment and I’ll send you one as soon as I get a chance.
I can’t believe another year has gone by already! Today is Rachel’s birthday, so in honor of her, I’ll give you some insight into the incredible woman that is my wife…
[Minneapolis, Minnesota]
Here are some of the things I love about her:
- Her mind. We are on the same wavelength. We can talk for hours about society, culture, psychology & counseling (she talks, I listen), design, art, coffee, friends, family, music… anything. She gets me.
- Her passion. Being around her makes me want to be a better person. To do everything better. Because she lives her life intentionally and with excellence.
- Her beauty. She’s a ten. Her eyes. Her hair. The way her nose is perfectly formed. The lips that so many women pay to look like…wow. She literally takes my breath away.
- Her character. We’re getting ready to have our first child, and I can’t imagine having a better mother for our son. I get a beautiful, smart, sexy, brilliant, psychologist to raise a child with. She sets the bar high, and it’s made me a better person.
Those are just a few. I could go on and on and on. Suffice to say I am the luckiest man alive just to have the chance to try to make this day special for the one woman that makes life worth it.
I just finished reading the article “Shattering Paradigms” on RelevantMagazine.com by Matthew Rauch. Having just gone through a spiritually dry time over the past few weeks myself and beginning to feel quite burned out on the whole ‘church’ thing lately, this says it all…
The problem is that many of us are constantly trying to work. We are constantly trying to do, but God is waiting for us to cease to do. Here’s the point; in the words of Watchman Nee, “The Christian experience does not begin with a big do; it begins with a big done.â€
Read the rest of the article here: (Pt.1 & Pt.2)
There’s been some buzz surrounding the release of the independent film “Helvetica” for several months now.
If you’re wondering “why haven’t I heard of it?” it may be because you (a) aren’t given to staring at/lusting after typefaces and fonts while trying to pick out different styles of lettering on billboards and bus signs or (b) prefer not to watch documentaries about the history of typefaces and foundries.
My name is Isaac. And I’m a designer.
Yesterday they announced that tickets are on sale for the Chicago premier. In my excitement, I bought two, thinking that a premier certainly calls for an entourage, even if it’s only one other person. Thankfully, finding like-minded creatives is not a difficult task. So, on June 15th, Tim Schraeder will be joining me at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago for what will likely be one of the most incredible movies of all time.
