Blogs

Five Mistakes Pastors Make On Social Media | The Exchange: Marty Duren
This goes too far, but still worth hearing the challenge: “A pastor who is not on social media could be compared to a pastor not using the telephone, computers, or microphones when they preach. Social media gives each pastor the equivalent of their own TV station, radio station, and printing press. This is one area of our culture pastors cannot afford to sit-out. The potential reach of social media is far more than the average pastor will person ally minister to personally in their lifetimes.”

Five Ways to Dramatically Improve Personal Productivity
“Have you ever sat down at the end of a long day and thought, ”Man, I did a lot of stuff but I didn’t get anything done.” Days like that are no good. But weeks like that are even worse. There’s a big difference between getting things done and getting the right things done.”

The Need for Illustrations in Preaching by R.C. Sproul | Ligonier Ministries Blog 
“That which makes the deepest and most lasting impression on people is the concrete illustration. For Luther, the three most important principles of public communication were illustrate, illustrate, and illustrate. He encouraged preachers to use concrete images and narratives. He advised that, when preaching on abstract doctrine, the pastor find a narrative in Scripture that communicates that truth so as to communicate the abstract through the concrete.”

Paul’s Seminary Epistles | Acts 29
“Sometime over the last few years, I started referring to Paul’s letters to Timothy and Titus as the Seminary Epistles. I knew that this short three-book series is, of course, usually called the Pastoral Epistles, but I also noticed that, while Paul’s tone and content are clearly “pastoral” in the broad sense of that word, he is nevertheless dealing with the work of training and equipping young pastors to serve congregations. Sounds like seminary to me.”

Borrowing Too Much For A Worthless Degree | The Federalist
“Students who attend for-profit college default on their student loans at four times the rate of community college-goers.”

Planned Parenthood Social Media Gimmick Backfires
“Planned Parenthood asked people on Twitter to describe the billion-dollar abortion provider in one word, and the response it got was not at all what it expected.”

Kindle Books

Recapturing the Voice of God: Shaping Sermons Like Scripture by Steven Smith $4.99.

Know the Creeds and Councils by Justin Holcomb $3.99

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen Covey $6.99. New York Times bestseller which has been read by millions around the world. A book to read every year or two.

Video

The Foolishness of Stephen Colbert | Mere Orthodoxy — Christianity, Politics, and Culture
Have a look at the video and then read this thought-provoking commentary. Remember, Colbert is a Roman Catholic, and therefore unlikely to have grasped the Gospel of grace — but the basic point of the article still stands.

“Are Colbert and Maher opposites? In some ways. Yet, they’re also of a similar, rare ilk. In an age dominated by relativism, they are two men with the gumption and conviction to try and convert one another. The exchange should be studied by a church which finds herself in a similarly awkward, tense cultural moment. Now, more than ever, we need to be reminded that the motivation of our faith is still love, and the content of our faith is still “foolishness to the Greeks.” May we not resolve the cultural tension by changing the subject in the name of peace. Rather, may we invite all those who scorn and laugh at us into Christ’s banquet hall. In other words, may we learn from Stephen Colbert how to be better, more loving fools.”