Ministry Inside.23

1. You might want to read this piece by Tim Keller, “How to Pray Better in Public and in Private, Too.” One reason why I read Tim Keller is because he makes me think. Tim must be one of the most articulate spokesmen for the Gospel in this century. By the way, this recent announcement by Redeemer might interest you.

2. This list of literature on emerging adulthood might interest you. This is something that I have bookmarked.

3. I have recently begun using a moleskin to capture everything that I want to remember. For quite some time, I had been writing things down on a yellow, letter-size pad. However, I found that it was far too easy for me to lose a particular note somewhere within the pad. More often, I would end up taking notes on several different pads.

Anyway, I am now taking notes in my moleskin notebook. It is with me constantly. This is where I note book recommendations, the location of articles, names of people, to do lists, etc. I try to keep this kind of information in my notebook instead of my mind. A great stress reliever.

4. I conducted a funeral recently for a man in our church. One thing I noted in the funeral remarks was his intentionality about both remembering and using names. In fact, when I first met him, he used my name several times. For some reason, I remember this.

Most of us, I believe, really like to hear our name. Ministers would do well to make a real effort to remember names. Perhaps the congregation where you are is quite large. Ok, one can still be intentional about learning names even if this means learning just a few names a week. People really do notice and many will appreciate your effort.