This is a thought-provoking video of a conversation between three well-known pastors - James MacDonald of Harvest Bible Chapel (Chicago, IL), Mark Dever of Capitol Hill Baptist Church (Washington, DC), and Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church (Seattle, WA). Mark Driscoll & James MacDonald have employed a multi-site strategy at their growing churches, while Mark Dever holds only one service at his church. How do these three pastors justify their contrasting positions biblically? Watch Driscoll and MacDonald seek to convince Dever to go to multi-site as he asks them pointed questions about the wisdom of their ministry philosophy and strategy.
Just in case you’re unfamiliar with these men, all of them serve on “The Gospel Coalition” (http://thegospelcoalition.org/). I appreciate the commonalities they share in their rock solid theology, their desire to see people reached with the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, and their passion for solid, biblical preaching of the Word of God. Further, you’ll note the fun they poke at one another throughout this interview. The camaraderie among them is evidence that despite the philosophical differences they have, the common bond they have in Jesus Christ and their love for His people and His Word is what unites them as friends and co-laborers. Of course, their sense of humor & thick skin is very much appreciated by yours truly. {;-)
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Fun w/ Phone Rep's
- Customer Service Rep: Alrighty, you're all set.
- Me: Great. Oh yeah...how far are you from Cincinnati?
- Customer Service Rep: Well I'd say we're about an hour & fifteen minutes from anywhere.
- Me: Really. Oh. Alright then.
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Every time we look at the cross Christ seems to say to us, “I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.” Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size.John Stott
The Message of Galatians
(Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1968), 179
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∞ "Multisite is Multiplying"
Today, Pastor Brad preached on what the Elders believe God would have Grace Fellowship Church focus on in the days to come. In his sermon, he referred to this resource (a survey from Leadership Network) that you may find helpful in learning more. Enjoy!
(Source: multisiteismultiplying)
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The twin brother of aggrievement is entitlement.Condoleezza Rice
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Great Moments in Marriage
- Me: (scanning the radio while driving and on comes "Prop Me Up Beside The Jukebox If I Die") Huh?! What is that all about? Country music can be so weird sometimes.
- Sarah: ...
- Me: Know what I mean?
- Sarah: ...
- Me: (looks over)
- Sarah: (smiling & quietly singing along to every word)
- Me: You're so cute.
- Sarah: (keeps on singing)
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The past remembers better than it lived.Jackie Gleason
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The cross was a glorious outworking of the grace of God, by which the Father commissioned the Son to make full satisfaction so that sinners might be saved with no sacrifice of God’s justice.R. C. Sproul
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7 Years Ago Today
- Me: What's the matter baby?
- Sarah: My stomach. Something's just not sitting right.
- Me: (gets out of bed)
- Sarah: What are you doing?
- Me: Gotta finish painting the nursery.
- Sarah: What? No, baby. First babies never come on time. It's just indigestion or something from Thanksgiving, that's all.
- Me: (stirring the paint) Uh-huh.
- 20+ hours later, Justin Graham LaRuffa was born safe & sound.
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The Strategy of Jesus
There is no person in history who has impacted all of mankind more than Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus was deeply concerned for the continuation of His redemptive work after the close of His earthly existence, and His chosen method was a formation of a small band of committed friends. He did not form an army, establish a headquarters, or even write a book. What He did was collect a few very common men and women, inspire them with the sense of the spirit and vision, and build their lives into an intensive fellowship of affection, worship, and work.
One of the truly shocking passages of the gospel is that in which Jesus indicates that there is absolutely no substitute for the tiny, loving, caring, reconciling society. If this fails, he suggests, all is a failure; there is no other way. He told the little bedraggled fellowship that they were actually the salt of the earth and if the salt should fail there would be no adequate preservative at all. He was staking it all on one throw.
What we need is not intellectual theorizing or even preaching, but a demonstration. One of the most powerful ways of turning people’s loyalty to Christ is by loving others with the great love of God. We cannot revive faith by argument, but we might catch the imagination of puzzled men and women by an exhibition of a fellowship so intensely alive that every thoughtful person would be forced to respect it.
If there should emerge in our day such a fellowship, wholly without being artificial and free from the dead hand of the past, it would be an exciting event of momentous importance. A society of genuine loving friends, set free from self-seeking struggle for personal prestige and from all unreality, would be something unutterably priceless and powerful. A wise person would travel any distance to join it.
(excerpts from Elton Trueblood)
