tim chester has a post today talking about his upcoming book, captured by a better vision. in this post time lists a couple statistics that really struck me:
The average age of first exposure to pornography is 11 years old and 80% of 15-17 year olds have had multiple hard-cor e exposure
The 35-49 age group is the largest consumer of internet pornography
i have to believe that these two stats are related. the below demographic should be fathers to the above demographic and are introducing their sons (and daughters) to pornography passively by either having it on their computers, or not talking to them about the dangers of porn, mainly because they are in the grips of it themselves.
i fall into the 35-49 age group and have a history of struggling with pornography. i also have two young boys, and while i hope that they never see porn, knowing how it permeates our society, know that the likelihood of that is slim. my prayer is that they do not become addicted to it as i did. i have three ways i am trying to accomplish this for them:
maintaining my personal freedom in Christ from porn
share my struggles with them about it and talk openly about its destructive powers
pray like their lives depend on it (because to a certain extent, they do).
what are you doing to keep yourself and your kids porn-free?
a couple links that are well worth the read regarding this:
Apologies to the New Yorker: Books & Culture is the only periodical I read cover-to-cover, the day it arrives. Since I first started reading B&C in 1997, I have fantasized about its becoming a monthly (and, actually, a weekly). Now those fantasies vie for space in my head with real concerns about the magazine’s future. Books & Culture is a truly unique periodical: where else can you find an incisive discussion of the culture of B&Bs cheek-by-jowel with an assessment of JPII by the late, great Elizabeth Fox-Genovese (that was January 200), or an analysis of Calvin and Hobbes and a piece on how to address God (January 2007)?
- Lauren Winner, assistant professor at Duke Divinity School
my question to you is…what magazines do you subscribe to, which ones do you eagerly anticipate, which ones to you read cover-to-cover?
Of the Seven Deadly Sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter conversations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back—in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you.
this week over 50 bloggers signed up to read and review a multi-site church roadtrip on their blogs. i’ll be keeping a running tab of these blogs and link their reviews once they are posted. here are the blogs and if they are linked, they have posted up their reviews. also, be sure to read and/or download a sample chapter of a multi-site church roadtrip from scribd, here. you can also pick up a copy of the book from zondervan, here, or at your favorite retailer.
i just read a great post from a blogger about reviewing free books from publishers. as someone who is in the publishing industry, and sends out free books to people that will review, i’m curious what others think. do you give more or less credence to a book review if the book was not paid for, but given away by a publisher?
zonderfann: before embarking on your “roadtrip”, were you expecting to find more similarities or differences among the multiple churches? what did you actually discover?
geoff surratt: I expected a great deal of similarity in multisite churches. Early on in the movement it seemed that churches were being attracted to a handful of models and were more or less copying each other. What we found is that multisite is taking a wide range of shapes from rural to internet to international campuses. There is no such thing as a right way to do multisite.
zf: what do you see as the biggest challenge for the multi-site/multi-venue movement in the next few years?
gs: I think the biggest challenge is to stay faithful to the vision that God has given for your church. There seems to be a trend to go multisite because that is what all of the larger churches are doing, but that is a mistake. God has a unique vision and mission for each church and it is vital that the leaders stay on the path.
zf: of the fifteen churches you visited and profiled, which one innovation stood out to you exceptionally?
gs: The innovation closest to my heart came from Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and the idea of transforming communities by planting campuses. Rather than just showing up on the weekend and inviting people to come to a service, Healing Place moves into communities 24/7. The offer food, clothing, medical help, and education all given freely in the name of Jesus. This concept is catching on across the country as more and more multisite churches are opening Dream Centers of their own.
zf: satellite and preaching via the internet, like lifechurch.tv puts out, is a new concept that intrigues many. being in a technology-driven age, this idea has been growing in popularity. what are the benefits and drawbacks to this idea? what should people be aware of before deciding to use this method as their primary way of “church” worship?
gs: Internet campuses have quickly become a tool that churches across the country are taking advantage. From the very simple streaming of a weekend service to a full service campus such as Lifechurch.tv offers people are connecting virtually with their church and with each other. For some it is a great way to stay connected with their home church and for others it is a great door into church; a place they never really saw themselves going. The key for an internet church, like any church, is that people are actually connecting in life-giving relationships and living as the body of Christ. Just surfing to your church and hanging out watching a preacher on the screen by yourself isn’t living the Christian lifestyle presented in the Bible. But when people really do connect, serve and share amazing life transformation is happening through online churches.
zf: what are the most important components to keeping a multi-site church thriving?
gs: The key to any multisite church is leadership. Choosing the right leaders for campus pastors and other ministry leaders will determine the success or failure of a new campus. Beyond leadership and leadership development, the second thing you have to get right is the funding model. How are you going to pay the bills without sinking the ship? And the third component is structure. How are the new campuses going to relate to each other and the leadership of the church. Every multisite church wrestles with these issues on an ongoing basis.
zf: what advice do you have for pastors of one-campus churches that are considering going multi-site or multi-venue? what should they discuss and weigh before taking the plunge?
gs: As we discussed in our first book, The Multi-site Church Revolution, I believe there are three questions any church considering multi-site should answer:
What is the driving impetus behind the desire to go multi-site? Is it a to handle growth? To reach a new culture? To go into an area without a life giving church? These are all legitimate reasons to go multisite. What won’t work is to go multisite to get a church to grow. Multisite is not a growth engine. Trying to become multisite without a driving vision is like trying to give birth without being pregnant.
How healthy is your church? Are you baptizing new believers? Are you seeing people grow in their faith? Are seeing reproduction of believers? If your church isn’t healthy, then it isn’t a good idea to reproduce your disease.
Is your senior leadership on board? Multisite isn’t like adding a new ministry or just starting a new service; multisite needs to be in the DNA of the church leadership. If the senior pastor isn’t leading the charge for adding new campuses then multisite likely will not be successful at your church.
back in december of 2008, i was introduced to dan king (aka bible dude). he is behind the great site, bibledude.net and writes with highcallingblogs.com. he is someone who is passionate about many things, but three of them that i have picked up are developing community, serving those in need, and books for the church. he has run a couple of group blogging tours in which people in his community of bloggers review a chapter of a book each day until they work through the book. right now, dan and his community are smack in the middle of working through real-time connections, by bob roberts.
Many laypeople wish their day jobs allowed them to make a real difference for Christ. But Bob Roberts, in his new book Real-Time Connections: Linking Your Job With God’s Global Work, says believers of all walks of life are right where they need to be to make an impact. Bob Roberts is the founding pastor of NorthWood Church in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, church planter and expert on “glocal” —global and local—mission work, says the last thing the world needs is more trained vocational missionaries. In fact, there’s no reason for today’s Christians to step outside the realm of law, publishing, medicine, education, telecommunications, construction or wherever they find themselves. Every church in America is full of skills and talents useful for Kingdom expansion, if its laypeople will only see their skill sets in a radically new light—as their ministry. With a fresh, relevant approach, Roberts urges churches to serve as “connection centers” between global needs and members’ skills, whether they be agricultural, medical, social or scientific.
In the pages of Real-Time Connections, laypeople of all vocations will learn to connect their skills with missions and find practical guidance for sharing the gospel within societal and global infrastructures. Each chapter concludes with “Connections Steps,” where Roberts helps readers discern their skills, focus their energy and ask important questions like, What domains am I already involved in? What can I do with my job to serve others? How integrated is my faith, my life and my work? Roberts also shares transferable principles from his own church’s journey into global engagement. NorthWood Church is committed to meeting the needs of developing and “closed” countries by connecting the expertise of their lay people with areas of need overseas. Last year a team of educators and special needs specialists developed a new special education curriculum for Vietnam, a country often considered hostile to the church. Then a 10-member team of lay people traveled to Vietnam to help implement the curriculum. This strategy of “going into all the world,” Roberts writes, is exactly how the early church spread the gospel, and it’s a mandate for today’s believers to utilize the everyday associations of their work for Christ. Real-Time Connections is every Christian’s guide to reclaiming their role in God’s transforming work around the globe.
“God doesn’t just rely on preachers and pastors to bring change to this world,” Roberts says. “He uses people in every domain of society, with the skills and conviction needed to advance the Great Commission.”
Steve Chalke is a prominent, and often outspoken, Christian leader and social activist based in the UK, and an ordained Baptist minister. He is best known as the founder of Oasis Trust, Faithworks, Stop the Traffik and Church.co.uk. He is the author of numerous books and articles as well as a regular presenter and contributor on television and radio programmes. In 2004 he was awarded an MBE for his services to social inclusion by the Queen.
Steve’s latest book, Different Eyes, has released this month and touches on the subject of ethics, and the Christian’s response to the moral dilemmas of our day. How does a follower of Jesus live distinctively and think Christianly about issues such as war, wealth, and euthanasia?
The week of April 12-17th we will be running a blog tour. Fill out the form here, and if your blog is approved, we will send you a complimentary copy of Different Eyes by Steve Chalke. In return for the book, you will post up a review of the book on your blog and on Amazon.com, that’s it.
it’s been about 5 months since i’ve been around. i am renewing my interest in the blog, and will be bringing new content going forward. later today, i’ll have a post up on how you can get a free book sent to you if you have a blog and are interested in reviewing.
We’ve also been putting much more content on some other channels that you might want to check out:
i have to believe that these two stats are related. the below demographic should be fathers to the above demographic and are introducing their sons (and daughters) to pornography passively by either having it on their computers, or not talking to them about the dangers of porn, mainly because they are in the grips of it themselves.
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