Another Thing Going On

If your RSS reader just had a spasm because I actually posted something and you are now reading it, congratulations! I just wanted to inform you that I have launched a new site, Vintage Saints, to be a spot on the web for the seminar I am doing this summer on church history at Santa Rosa Bible Church. When the seminar starts I will be posting different things (other websites, audio downloads, outlines, etc.) at the site, but for now it is mostly teasers and small little bits and pieces of church history. Check it out!

ESV Journaling Initiative Starts Tomorrow

For those of you who are joining up with me in reading the Bible through in a year, tomorrow kicks off the plan. If you are using an ESV Journaling Bible (or any double column ESV text for that matter) this weeks reading are pages 1-9 (3 pages a day). If you are just wanting to follow along in your own Bible or translation, we are going to be reading and thinking through Genesis 1-13. So get your Bible's ready... get yourself ready and see what God has to teach you in His Word this next year.

Calvin in 2009

2009 marks a special year for us here at the Fellowship. Not only are we going to be plunging our way through the Scriptures with the ESV Journaling Bible Initiative and that will certainly be the focus of our blogging in 2009, but there is another event in church history that we are celebrating in 2009.

2009 marks the 500th birthday of John Calvin. Whatever your viewpoint on Calvin is we are going to devote some time this next year to celebrate his birthday, and the tremendous work that he did for the cause of Christ. The folks over at Reformation21 are blogging through the Institutes in 250 words each day and you can follow that here. Personally I am going to be reading the Institutes along with them, and would encourage you to do the same. So go get a copy of the Institutes, download this reading guide and join with me in reading more great theology, and a fitting way to wish Calvin a happy birthday.

One other book that is of note and will be helpful is this series of essays on the life and work of John Calvin.

We Have a Winner! ESV Journaling Initiative

Yes today was the day we did the drawing. To make sure it was fair I printed out all the names of those of you who had entered, cut them up, folded them perfectly in half, and then let one of our office staff draw one name randomly. And our winner was Danielle Bohannon! Congrats! Now we get to the real work of reading through, and being changed by the Scriptures this next year. Thanks for joining me on this journey.

Reminder: ESV Journaling Giveaway

Just one more week left to enter to win an ESV Journaling Bible for the 2009 Bible Reading Initiative I am planning... if you haven't subscribed to the blog and emailed me that you are in for 2009 you can't win! The giveaway is Friday and I will post the winner! Check out this post for more info!

Monday Meditation: Gratitude

Since this week we get to celebrate Thanksgiving I thought it would be good to share posts this week of things I am grateful for. Not nearly enough do we express our gratitude to the Lord for all He is and has done for us, and yet this is reasonable worship to Him. So much grace has been given to me that I rarely take enough time to thank Him for that grace and spend much time taking His grace for granted, as if He was obligated to me in some way or another. The reality is different however. He is under no obligation to me whatsoever. So this week I am going to spend some time reflecting back on the last year, and publicly giving thanks to the Lord for what He has done. What are you thankful for?

Psalm 75:1 We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds.

Bantering with Bali: Reflections on Church Buildings and Poor People

I don't know if this will become a regular feature, but certainly something enjoyable to do today.  Bali is my good friend from college who served for 7 years in Detroit, MI with a college/career ministry of a local church.  Over the last year he has been in Ireland with Greater European Mission doing some work to assist in church-planting and evangelism in the city of Dublin. He stood with me in my wedding, taught me the intricacies of playing 007 Golden-Eye, and has been a dear friend and brother to me since our time at Moody.

On his blog he recently posted a call for churches in the US to stop being building-centered and using the resources God has given us to build multi-million dollar facilities with all the latest and greatest stuff.  His justification of that call was to view the great societal injustices that are happening all over the world, and the calling of Christ upon the church to be the upholder of righteousness and justice for the poor and downtrodden in the world (James 1:27).

I want to raise a question here that sparked my thinking on this (and maybe Bali will jump in and banter with me on this).  My question is:  if your eschatology (view of end-times) is a pre-millennium, pre-tribulation view of the Rapture, and that is the view of your local church, why would you or your church leadership invest a significant amount of finances to build a church building?  If you don't have a view of eschatology or don't know what that even is, answer this question: why do you think a congregation of people should invest a significant amount of money to build a new facility to meet in?

I would encourage you to read Andy's post, and comment on my question.   Remember this is not a question about your eschatology - but a question of how does your theology and your practice interact together?  Comment away!