Live Feed

If you didn't go over to the Resurgence for their live feed for the Text&Context Conference, you should. It's a really great feed to watch. I caught about half of the Q&A with Piper, Driscoll and Chandler.

I figured out how to embed it here, for those too lazy to click.

The rest of their schedule (in PST) is:

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

10:00 am Session 10 – Jim Gilmore – Context: Decoding the Future, the
Phoniness, and the Shifting Sands
11:20 am Q& A with Jim Gilmore
1:00 pm Session 11 – Mark Driscoll – Text & Context: Preaching Jesus
Christ To Pagan Culture
2:15 pm Q & A with Mark Driscoll

End of Main Conference -- Post-Conference Sessions Begin

3:00 pm Session 12 – Jeff Vanderstelt - Biblical Missiology (Acts 29
Session)
4:30 pm Session 13 – Darrin Patrick - Leading the Mission (Acts 29
Session)

Resurgence [Live]

The Resurgence is streaming-- and has been-- their Text & Context Conference for free.

Matt Chandler's speaking at 10:45am PST. He's a good one.

Go check it out.

Some Changes

Today I've spent around 6 hours, minimum, working on my blog's layout, design and look. I'm trying to go cleaner and make it more "hip." But also more functional. I'm slightly satisfied, at least enough to go to sleep.

I would like feed back though. If you think something needs changed, don't like the way something looks-- too clunky, too world-wide-web (like the Compuserve days), too whatever-- let me know.

How much is your blog worth?

My blog is worth $15,242.58.
How much is your blog worth?

notashamed || photography

I have a new website up. It's a pretty straight forward gallery of what I think are some of my best shots over the past year. There's a link to order photos. The 4x6 price is wrong though, it should be $5, not $10. I have quite a few other photos and all are available for purchase. Those you can find at my Flickr account.

The Pilgrim Way of Lent

The Pilgrim Way of Lent

Eternal Lord of love, behold your Church
Walking once more the pilgrim way of Lent,
Led by your cloud by day, by night your fire,
Moved by your love and toward your presence bent:
Far off yet here the goal of all desire.

So daily dying to the way of self,
So daily dying living to your way of love,
we walk the road, Lord Jesus, that you trod,
Knowing ourselves baptized into your death:
So we are dead and live to you in God.

If dead in you, so in you we arise,
You the firstborn of all the faithful dead;
And as through stony ground the green shoots break,
Glorious in springtime dress of leaf and flower,
So in the Father's glory shall we wake.

Text: Thomas H. Cain, 20th Cent.

Freeze Frame

Photo Friday

Remington
Originally uploaded by notashamed

My Photography || Flickr Friday Photos

Link Day

I have nothing for you today, yet, so I send you some time wasters from around the internet.

Eugene Cho gives us reasons to blog.

Daniel Taylor tells us why church planting sucks.

A while back there was a super cute girl on American Idol. She has a pretty good voice too.

Leading up to the Super Bowl, they showed a bunch of quick clips in the momentous world of sports. Jordan was within those. And so I bring you a highlight video. Pay close attention at 2:04.

Photo Friday

[Laura]
Originally uploaded by notashamed

A moderately old picture of my sister while we were waiting to open stockings Christmas Day Night.

My Photography Flickr Photo Friday

P. 123

Tag has been a game that I have gone back and forth on in the previous years. It was a game that wanted to include you only to leave you out in the cold once you were it. Your disease infested being could infect others and all were trying to get a way from you.

Usher in the new age of computer tag, in which emails are passed around with feel good crap or high pressure stakes that push you into an eternal decision by how many people you forwarded on this heresy of an email.

Most recently I was tagged by Andy Kerr. Fortunately this form of tag is to include those around you and has nothing to do with your eternal salvation, but rather what you're reading.

The Rules:

• Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more (no cheating!)
• Find page 123
• Find the first five sentences
• Post the next three sentences
• Tag five people

I waited till I had a cool enough book near me to prove that I have some gall. The book: God's Companions, by Samuel Wells, which I just received today from Amazon for the course Christian Ethics.

The practices of healing belong in relation to all the gifts of God explored in the foregoing chapters: healing takes its appropriate place as part of answering the call to be God's companions, to join the ministery of reconciliation. It is part of the transformation one can expect to grow out of justification and sanctification. Healing means exhibiting more of the fruits of the spirit-- becoming a witness to abundance rather than a herald of scarcity.

That said, I hereby tag:

1. Chris Ridgeway
2. Luke Johnson
3. Kevin Cawley
4. Joe Thorn
5. Steve McCoy

Oh, and no tag backs.

The Beginning of the End

Today is the first day of my last semester of Seminary. It marks not only that end, but the, at least for a time, an end to my academic career which has spanned over the past 22 years of my life.

It was rather surreal sitting in class as I was thinking about this twice over Odyssey of mine. The end finally in sight, praying about what I'm going to be doing in the future. At the current moment I'm praying about moving to Kansas City in June to plant Redeemer Fellowship. A two year prospectus was sent to me about 2 weeks ago from Kevin Cawley and Kris McGee. It appears to be exactly what I want to do, but I'm trying to take my time making that decision-- something I'm not normally known for doing. I hope to have a decision in the next 2 weeks.

Until then I have the following classes to focus on during my last semester:

• Christian Ethics and the Church
• Living Responsibly in the Realm of God
• Embodiment

The final requirement is my Chaplaincy at Northwestern Memorial Hospital (CPE). It takes up around 30 hours a week altogether. It has been much better than what I thought it would be though. To best illustrate how I've enjoyed it, I thought I'd give a top ten.

Top 10 Things I've enjoyed about CPE so far:

10. Cute nurses
9. Commuting via the EL
8. Waking up very early (surprising I know)
7. Talking with patients
6. Cute nurses
5. Praying with patients
4. Moving my understanding of Scripture from an academic knowledge to a pastoral wisdom.
3. Practicing Dual Citizenship
2. Cute nurses
1. Being there for people in times of hurt and need

Top 10 Reasons to Plant Churches

Taken from: David T. Olson, The American Church in Crisis, 155-156.

10. New Churches lower the age profile of the American church, increase its multi-ethnicity, and better position the whole church for future changes.

9. New churches provide synergistic benefits to established churches. Research shows that denominations that plant many strong churches have more healthy, growing, established churches than those who plant few churches.

8. The continued growth of new churches will extend up to 40 years after their start.

7. New churches provide a channel to express the energy and ideas of passionate, innovative young pastors.

6. New churches are the research and development unit of God's kingdom. Healthy cultural adaptations and theological vitality occur more often in a denomination that excels at church planting, because the ferment of new ideas and ministry solutions is more robust.

5. New churches are the test laboratory for lay leadership development. In new church plants that do well, most lay members report that being part of the beginning of the new church was one of the defining spiritual events in their life.

4. New churches are historically the best method for reaching each emerging new generation.

3. New churches are the only truly effective means to reach the growing ethnic populations coming to America. Church planting can effectively create both ethnic-specific and multi-ethnic congregations.

2. New churches are more effective than established churches at conversion growth. Studies show that new churches have three to four times the conversion rate per attendee than established churches.

1. Because the large majority of Americans do not attend a local church, many more new churches are needed. In 2005, 17.5% of Americans attended a local church on any given Sunday. The best and most effective way for the Christian church to keep up with populations growth is to start new churches.