like a fire

All-Ett - World’s thinnest wallet - billfold

OK, this is a bit obscure, but today I am sitting a lot. I hate having a bunch of stuff in my wallet and sitting for a LONG TIME. I usually have lots of receipts in my wallet because I have turn them in for accounting stuff. Well, today it was really bugging me. I also wear out pants often where the pocket meets the pants. SO I found this site.

I don’t know if I will actually get one of these but they have some of the funniest videos on why you should buy their billfold. If you have the same problems or if you just want to laugh a bit, check it out.

[tags]wallet, billfold [/tags]

It was a good night for the youth ministry in a very backwards way. I started the conversation with the question:

What is so remarkable about the gospel?

We started with a lot of very cliche answers like Jesus died for your sins. I asked them how that was remarkable and why anyone who wasn’t a Christian would think that was remarkable. The very essence of what we mean by it is that you can be free, but most people think they are pretty good and don’t need forgiveness. That says a lot about the way most people go about evangelism in itself.

After moving through the vague, generic answers we moved to more specific questions. There were some great ones asked. One person asked how to talk to people who have faith but are doubting because of they circumstances. This seemed not to be a made up question. I felt really good about the dialogue. Then I asked them:

What is so remarkable about the gospel to you personally.

Screeching tires could be heard internally in everyone’s ears. Externally it was more like crickets. It was sad but very telling. Not one of the teens there could give an answer beyond the superficial freedom from sins. I admitted that I struggle with the same question and often find the same answers. Not much.

So the gauntlet got thrown. After posing some scenarios that would help them see ways that we have been made remarkable through the gospel, I asked them to come back with a story next week that would help answer that question. I asked them to actually tell someone in the next week about a struggle they are in and how God is changing them with the gospel.

Wow, is that what the Christian life is supposed to look like?

[tags]Youth Ministry, Purple Cow [/tags]

You are a post-consumption consumer.
You have everything you need,
and most everything you want.
Except time.

So begins The Purple Cow. I am reading this book in a frenzy and it is changing a lot of what I think about ministry. The basic concept of the book is that we are so inundated with messages that it would take something totally extraordinary to get our attention (a purple cow).

I have been thinking about the gospel. It is important that Jesus died for our sins, but that message is so vague and now so common that I don’t think most people really hear it. Godin challenges marketing types to make a product from the start that is innovative and then show how it helps the user more than just benefitting his life. The gospel isn’t a product, but it is at least as innovative as any product I have seen. Why isn’t it more remarkable?

I have been thinking about this a lot. I think we have trivialized the good news into one aspect that is so vague and flimsy that it is completely unremarkable. What makes the gospel remarkable to me personally is a better place to start. How does it change me in ways so much better than I can tell?

I am going to be talking to my group about it tonight and I will post the results for anyone who is interested. Please comment if you have a thought on it. I would love to hear.

Seth’s Blog: Why are you afraid of process? I just read a great article by Seth Godin. He talks about how people are apt to loath the process over straight intuition. People would much rather come up with a new idea on how to manage inventory than just count the prodact and write a report. Seth Says:

If process makes you nervous, it’s probably because it threatens your reliance on intuition. Get over it. The best processes leverage your intuition and give it room to thrive.

What is interesting to me about it is how it relates to process ministry. This affirms my thoughts on people and why they aren’t usually committed to a process. They would much rather go for the big miraculous change over the steady process of ministry. Especially when it comes to the mundane. Check it out for more.

Get in Here Ministries Many people don’t know this about me, but I had a very pivotal point in my life where someone turned me on to three ideas that you should live your life by. These three ideas have been the essence of what I try to do in my life, my ministry, my marriage and every aspect of living I can imagine. Those three keys to life are: sarcasm, snap judgments, and stereotypes.

If you question my use of these three keys of life, then you should visit this site and watch the video.

Hat tip to Church Marketing Sucks for the link.