Category: Monday Start

Sabbatical

See this post by Eric Geiger “Why Your Pastor Needs a Sabbatical.”  One way to bless your entire church.

Scripture

Students should watch this video.  “My Advice to Students” (series).  Matthew Barrett says, “Don’t Forget to Read Scripture.”

Interesting

John Saddington has written a good post “Mr. Proctor, Mr. Gamble.”  Two unlikely business partners.

Worship

Richard Beck has written a very good post on singing, worship, and hymns.  See “Worship Songs Aren’t Just for God: On Lament and Old Hymnbooks.”

Sobering

See Thom Rainer’s “The Most Common Factor in Declining Churches.”  I rarely miss one of Rainer’s posts.

Third Third of Life

See this fine post by Walter Wright from Fieldnotes Magazine regarding his book The Third Third of Life: Preparing for your Future.  I really enjoyed this book!

Productivity

Note this info graphic regarding productivity and time wasters.  “The Four Biggest Productivity Killers in Your Office.”  Sobering!  (Thanks Tim Spivey).

James Bryan Smith

I enjoy reading anything James Bryan Smith writes.  See his post “Defining Spiritual Formation: The Need.”  I have read almost every book Smith has written.  A very good and helpful writer.

Leadership Lessons

Shane Duffey has written a fine post on Perry Noble’s blog entitled: “Five Leadership Lessons I Learned When I Began to Work In A Church.”

Wisdom  I often read posts written by Dr. John Willis.  I read him for his wisdom. Today he writes about Movers and Shakers.

Stackhouse

John Stackhouse is interesting.  I find his writings stimulating, provocative, and thoughtful.  Agree with him or not, he makes me think. Even this post regarding upcoming courses this summer at Regent makes me think.

Again speaking of wisdom

Bill Mounce has written an interesting post based on a new book by John Walton and Andrew Hill.  The post deals with the meaning of wisdom.

Fear

Here is a great post by Harold Shank on fear.  Much needed regardless of one’s age.

Storms of life

John Mark Hicks has posted a number of videos of a class he taught recently entitled, “Yet Will I Trust Him: Trusting God In The Storms of Life.”

Christian Education

Don’t miss this very good post by Dr. Harold Shank, President of Ohio Valley University.  See “Why Choose Christian Education?”  Excellent!

Resources

See Michael Hyatt’s “99 Resources to Make Your Personal and Business Life Hum.”  Excellent resources.  I don’t know anyone who creates better lists of helpful resources.

Prayer

Terry Rush has written a great post entitled “Calling for Prayer Expansion.”  Made me think about my own prayer life.

Digital

Chris Brogan has written a nice piece “The Single most Effective Change I Made to My Digital Presence.”  Certainly made me think about how to use digital media today.

Productivity

Leo Babauta has written a post “The Hard Stuff Often Matters Most.”  Could be very helpful in learning to better organize and structure one’s day.

Ministry

Don’t miss Dr. Harold Shank’s fine post “Growling Over Ministry.” I have great respect for Harold and for his love for Scripture and ministry.  This post is a great reminder of the importance and value of ministry.

Amazing discount!

Did you know you can purchase the Kindle edition of Tim Keller’s Center Church for $2.99?  This is one of the best ministry books I have ever read!

Fred

Jonathan Storment has written a very thoughtful and needed post “God Loves Fred.”  (Regarding Fred Phelps.)

Free

Have you seen Putting Jesus in His Place by Robert Bowman, Darrell Bock, and Ed Komoszewski?  Get it while it is free as a Kindle book.

The morning and learning languages

Watch Miles Van Pent’s video (3:54) in which he reflects on learning languages. Van Pent is the co-author of Basics of Biblical Hebrew.  See “My Advice to Students — Van Pelt Shares Solid Languages Advice He Got and Wished He Got.”  Note that he advises that students “Get up early and do this before anyone wants your time.”  I find this to be useful advice not only for learning languages but for doing many things that are priorities.

Creativity

Maria Popova has written a good post “Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Crucial Difference Between Success and Mastery” in which she reviews The Rise by Sarah Lewis.  Very interesting read!

Reading

Jason English has compiled these numbers in this piece from Mental Floss.  See “Which Country Reads the Most?”

Getting your rhythm back

Ann Voscamp has written an excellent post entitled “What to do to Get Your Rhythm Back.”  Glad I read this today!

The following are a number of resources that you may find interesting and even helpful.  I became aware of each of these within the past week.

Ministry

Don’t miss this!  “Eight of the Most Significant Struggles Pastors Face” by Thom Rainer.

Teenagers

See Laurence Steinberg’s “What’s Holding Back American Teenagers?” (Slate).  Very interesting.

Self

Charles Degroat has written an article “Becoming Ourselves: Anthropological Musings for Christian Psychologists.” (religions).  Particularly relevant as a common discussion in this culture seems to center around the question “What does it mean to be human?”

Reading

See Teddy Roosevelt’s “Ten Rules for Reading” (farnam street blog).  I have never regretted reading too much or too often.  However, I have sometimes wished I had read more.

Running

Here is a great story about a young runner from North Carolina with M.S.  (New York Times)

Writing

Jeff Goins has written a fine post “How to Stop Sounding Stupid and Write Like a Pro.”  I read Jeff’s blog regularly and find him very helpful and inspirational.

Stewardship

Jeremy Bouma has reviewed Craig Blomberg’s book “Christians in an Age of Wealth.”  This looks to be an interesting book by this well respected New Testament scholar.

Jonah

Kevin Youngblood’s (Harding University Bible professor – Searcy) commentary on Jonah is reviewed in Koinonia.  Also included is a video clip of Youngblood.

Preaching

Don’t miss this essay by John Stackhouse (Regent College, Vancouver, B.C.) in which he challenges all of us to reflect on what we are preaching.  See “Preaching that Avoids the Scandal…and the Centre.”