Lyrics on Line April 30, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Internet Resources , add a commentAre you looking for the words to a song that seems to jangle around in your brain but the song is 20 years old? Well the next time you’ve just got to find the lyrics to Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven“, click on over to LyricWiki, a large and growing database of over 200K lyric pages. While the Christian section has a long way to go, you can search by artist or title, with lots of background info.
ht: Lifehacker
Stott to Retire in July April 29, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Church, Urban Church , add a commentThe Rev Dr John Stott, aged 86, announced this week that he will formally retire in July 2007. He is one of Britain’s and the world’s best known evangelical theologians and spokespeople and had served at one time as a a former chaplain to the Queen. He will be moving from his home in Bridford Mews, London, where he has lived for more than 30 years, to a retirement community for Anglican clergy in the south of England. (more…)
Will You Sing Along? April 27, 2007
Posted by Steve in : The Arts in the City, Music That Moves , add a commentI love the Blue Man group and just ended a long week of travel by listening to their Complex Rock Tour DVD. Here is my favorite song from that DVD, featuring Dave Matthews:
New Church Conference - Bil Cornelius April 27, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Church, Methods & Strategies , add a commentI got a chance to listen to Bill Cornelius’ session and I got one great nugget from him: focus. Although they are into the thousands at Bay Area Fellowship, he said they are focused only on what they do well, and only provide Sunday services, childrens’ ministry and small groups. Focus on what you do best — don’t be all things to all people…….Good counsel from Bil.
Landis Bankruptcy? April 27, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Tour De France , 1 comment so far
AP — Yikes! Say it ain’t so Floyd.
Floyd Landis said he’s lost almost $10 million in potential earnings and might need to declare bankruptcy since being accused of using drugs to help win the Tour de France last year. He faces a two-year racing ban and would be the first cyclist in the Tour’s 104-year history to lose his title for doping after testing positive for inappropriate levels of testosterone. (more…)
Bob Lupton at Park on Sunday April 27, 2007
Posted by Steve in : The City, Chicago, Church, Urban Church, Methods & Strategies, Missional , add a comment
We are so excited to have Bob Lupton speaking at all three of Park’s church services this Sunday, April 29, 2007 on “Seeking Shalom in the City”, addressing the issue of our response to gentrification in the city, as we continue our series “Missional Living”.
As Park continues to expand, and looks at reaching more and more people as part of our goal to reach one percent of Chicago (30,000 people) in the years to come, we need to come to grips with gentrification and its impact on the well-being of the city of Chicago. Bob speaks from 34 years of experience as a Christian real estate developer and an active member of the CCDA.
Invite a Friend via E-vite here.
Bob Lupton is a Christian community developer and an entrepreneur who brings together communities of resource with communities of need, and has invested more than 34 years of his life in inner-city Atlanta. (more…)
Exponential Conference: Park Inspiring Others April 26, 2007
Posted by Steve in : The City, Church, Urban Church, Methods & Strategies , add a commentJust got back from Orlando (a full day saga to get back to O-Hare– uugh!) where I attended the Exponential Conference — AKA The 2007 National New Church Conference. While there, I had heard many great speakers (I’ll blog later) but I got a chance to check in with Mark Batterson, Lead Pastor at National Community Church in Washington DC. who told me that our church, Park Community Church has played a part in their baptisms. Apparently, a number of years ago, Mark saw a video of our baptism service in Lake Michigan with the Chicago skyline in the background and was inspired to do a lake baptism in the same style. Park ’s national influence continues…this time to Washington DC! Yea GOD!
Check out video of our Lake Michigan baptisms here.
Hybels Disappoints April 26, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Weblog , 2commentsJust got back from the National New Church Conference and got a chance to hear Bill Hybels speak. I like Bill Hybels and think he had made unbelieveable contributions with Willow Creek Church and then the WCA, especially the Leadership Summits. Bill Hybels was the final speaker and followed the Mark Driscoll video where Mark called out church planters to be men of integrity, to be men on a mission and to bring the clear message of the Gospel to our patch of the Kingdom.
The 1,800 church planters in the crowd reacted warmly to Jon Ferguson’s introduction and gave Bill a standing ovation out of reverence for the trail that Bill had blazed over the last 30 years in reaching out to lost people who matter to God. Obviously annoyed by Driscoll’s comments, Hybels first words after the standing ovation was to say, something like“there are women in this world and many of them are used by God in church building and they have spiritual gifts useful in church planting too. Just to set the record straight.”. He clearly wanted to make a point at Mark Driscoll’s expense and clearly knew that his words would imply a position for Driscoll that Driscoll does not hold.
I found this to be distasteful on several fronts –
1. It was disrespectful to the hosts of the conference who had worked hard to make this conference about unity of cause, unity of the Gospel and unity of the planting movement. It was an awkward moment for the conference leaders, who had seen momentum gaining through the three days. I’m sure Dave Ferguson was cringing in the back.
Exponential Conference: Driscoll April 26, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Church, Methods & Strategies, Missional , add a comment
Mark Driscoll gave a message via video to all the 1,800 church planters in attendance at the 2007 National New Church Conference. The video was done all outside, in a cemetery with hundreds of identical grave markers (looked like a WW1 graveyard — anyone know where?). The visual helped everyone see the uphill battle that a church planter faces as he begins to build a vision and a team. He was clear and concise (8 min), and focused on three main things needed for a successful church planter — the man, the mission and the message:
- The Church Planter Man, needs to be:
- Called to Plant
- Strong
- Competent
- Have a good theology
- Be able to articulate a clear message
- Have a clear God-given mission
- The Mission - to get the men
- Has to be able to gather the right team
- A clear role is to disciple men
- Given the 60/40 women/men ratio Barna speaks about, you have to get men to win in the long term
- Men who make the step to go to church want to know how to be a man
- The Message of the Gospel
- Planters will only succeed to the extent that they proclaim the Gospel message.
- The Gospel message is really what it is all about.
Here is his video (see my Hybels entry above about the content of this video, then watch it)
Tech: Beatitudes on Your Blackberry April 23, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Technology , add a comment
(Christian Today UK) Wherever you are, whatever you do, the Bible is now just a click away – downloadable to your mobile phone. If your phone can access the internet, you can now download the complete Bible, both the Old and New Testament. It is available in different versions including the Good News Bible, Contemporary English Version, and the King James Version. It also comes in different languages; Afrikaans, English, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.
VirtualBible™ is the new service launched recently (more…)
Give Landis’ Guy Access April 23, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Weblog , add a commentFloyd Landis wants to prove his innocence. So he has a rep at the lab in France to watch as all the samples are retested. However, they tested without letting Landis’ rep in the testing area. We believe in fairness — is fairness not a worldwide, mainstream value? Come on — give the guy access!
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PARIS, Apr 23 (Cycling Post) - According to the French sports paper L’Equipe, the sports paper stated that the Châtenay-Malabry lab [LNDD] did the analysis in presence of expert witnesses; one of them was appointed by Landis, the two others by the USADA. However, Landis’ spokesman Michael Henson claims that the American’s expert witness, former UCLA antidoping laboratory director of clients, Paul Scott, was not allowed to enter the lab.
“According to Scott, LNDD lab director Jacques de Ceaurriz did not allow him to enter the facility Sunday morning. Ceaurriz cited direct orders from USADA to prohibit any further observation of the ongoing retesting,” says the statement, released by Henson. “As such, the analysis of two samples was conducted without a Landis representative as witness. (more…)
New Church/Non Profit Email App April 23, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Technology , add a comment
We’ve been poking around at some email solutions as we work with more and more non-profits in Chicago. I found one that seems to have a decent offering at an excellent price point. It’s called BluePogo. It allows churches to create email campaigns and send them without quantity limitations. It is a web-based software and it’s intended primarily for nonprofit organizations, including churches. They offer a free 30 day tryout.
For $10 a month they offer an a-la cart plan that caters to NPO’s with fewer campaign mailing needs and smaller list sizes. Under this plan, an organization can send as many campaigns as they wish to 1000 unique recipients or for a $20 send to 2500 unique addresses.
We are doing our homework. Does this work for you? Does it meet your needs? Let us know here with a comment.
WSJ: BofA to buy Chicago’s LaSalle Bank for $21B April 22, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Weblog , add a commentHaving spent 7 years as a banker and having a huge love for all things Chicago, I am quite interested to learn that BofA, (my former employer) is going to buy LaSalle Bank and become the largest bank in Chicago.
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(AP) — Dutch bank ABN Amro NV has reached an agreement to sell its U.S. bank, LaSalle, to Bank of America Corp. for $21 billion, according to a published report. ABN’s spin-off of Chicago-based LaSalle Bank Corp. is part of negotiations for a separate transaction in which Britain’s Barclays PLC would buy ABN for more than $80 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday on its Web site, citing unnamed people familiar with the situation.
Buying LaSalle, which has more than 400 branches in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, would help Bank of America fill in a gap in its U.S. operations. Bank of America, the nation’s second-largest bank by assets, operates more than 5,700 branches coast to coast but hasn’t expanded significantly in the Midwest and holds less than 2 percent of the Chicago market. Bank of America and LaSalle’s combined operation would surpass longtime market leader, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., which has more than 15 percent of Chicago deposits.
An Audience of One April 22, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Powerful Passages, Missional, The Cultural Conversation , 1 comment so far
As we continue our series at Park Community Church on Missional Living in the city, I was reminded in Jackson Crum’s message today that in everything I do and am, I only have an audience of one. Not to fear man, or others, I need to fear and worship the God of the Universe. We are all called to missional living for an audience of One. Now we know that to non-Christians, an audience of one may sound absurd. Even to modern day Christians, this is not something truly practiced or emphasized. Christ wants our undivided attention. He wants us to be captivated only to him. Maybe you wonder why we do we need to focus on an audience of one? (more…)
Being Salt and Light April 22, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Weblog , add a commentOur church, Park Commmunity Church, is in the middle of a key series called “Missional Living in the City” and we are learning what it means to be ‘salt and light’ in the city. Here’s another take on it from Tim Keller, Senior Pastor of Reedeemer Presebyterian Church, who gives a 5 minute summary of being salt and light in today’s culture
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Today We are All Hokies April 20, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Weblog , add a commentI saw this editorial cartoon this week that really touched home. It shows the mascots of many of Tech’s collegiate rivals, and the caption simply reads: “Today we are all Hokies.”. I agree — all of us are united in prayer behind the Hokie nation and our hearts and prayers go out to all those affected by these senseless killings.
Virginia Tech family members across the country have united to declare this Friday, April 20th, an “Orange and Maroon Effect” day to honor those killed in the tragic events on campus Monday, and to show support for Virginia Tech students, faculty, administrators, staff, alumni, and friends. “Orange and Maroon Effect” was born several years ago as an invitation to Tech fans to wear orange and maroon to Virginia Tech athletic events. They invite everyone from all over the country to be a part of the Virginia Tech family this Friday, to wear orange and maroon to support the families of those who were lost, and to support the school and community.
2007 National New Church Conference April 18, 2007
Posted by Steve in : The City, Chicago, Church, Urban Church, Methods & Strategies, Missional, The Cultural Conversation , add a commentSeveral of us have been graciously been given the opportunity to attend the 2007 National New Church Conference next week and it is going to be a great one. The National New Church Conference is a cross-denominational gathering designed to connect, inspire, equip and challenge church planting leaders to the next level of collaboration. Speakers will include Bill Hybels, Wayne Cordeiro, Ed Stetzer, Dave Ferguson, Bob Roberts, Bil Cornelius, Mark Batterson, Jim Putman, Rick Rusaw, Matt Chandler, Darrin Patrick, Shawn Lovejoy, Vince Antonucci, Bob Logan, David Putman, and more. and several others. As Park looks to make a bigger impact in Chicago through multisite and church planting, the sheer energy that will come out of this conference will give us all a great emotional boost!Check out this interview by Ed Stetzer of Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Its part of the 2007 National New Church Conference podcast which is available at http://exponentialconference.org/podcasting/. In addition to this interview there are a bunch of great messages available from Dave Ferguson, Ron Sylvia, Dan Smith, Bob Roberts, John Burke and many more.
The Logic of Believing April 17, 2007
Posted by Steve in : The City, Missional , add a comment
Caught this today about trash can lid logic and God, and it made perfect sense as I thought about the last paragraph…
““Now, I’m a gambler, you know?” He smiled. We both smiled. He was, we both knew — everybody knew — the best at all betting games in the neighborhood. “And suppose I had to decide between putting down a bet on two teams. And if the first team won, I might lose everything I had, forever, or I might break even. But if I bet on the second team, I would either break even, or I would win everything — everything that any man could ever want. Now, who am I going to bet on?”
The second team, I said. “Smart kid,” said Pasquale.
