Would Paul Address This?

Kelly may have uncovered a long-lost apocryphal missive on the issue of announcements in the worship service. Someone else addressed the issue of announcements with guidelines  (10 of them) that might actually help those churches committed to them.

Of course some churches have totally embraced announcements – though I’m not sure what the first two minutes of this video shown in a whorship service has to do with the announcement part.

 Of course maybe no one considers announcements to be a problem . . . .

Random Links I Liked

I store these up for a week when my brain is a bit mushy. I liked these posts for one reason or another. You don’t have to. But I bet they make you think … or at least say “hmmm”.

First up, two from Anne Jackson: ”leaderman or servant leader“ was just a bit too convicting. I want to be servant leader, but I’m pretty sure fall on the other side far too often. This vignette captures an authenticity and insight that will slowly grow on you. And if you have ever worked with people you’ll understand the metaphor.

This post on preaching “tethered to the word” by John Piper on the differences between the entertainment-oriented preacher and the bible-oriented preacher was a good reminder. Piper summarizes “that the difference between an entertainment-oriented preacher and a Bible-oriented preacher is the manifest connection of the preacher’s words to the Bible as what authorizes what he says.” Thanks to Tracy on our Women’s Ministries team for pointing me to it.

This post reminds me of why we have to figure out more effective ways to communicate at Crossroads.

And this one wasn’t one I really enjoyed, but it seems to illustrate Piper’s point above to the extreme. I’m thinking Dr. Suess wouldn’t agree either.

Resetting the Bar on Life

This post by Al Mohleris insightful. We can only hope it remains true. Whether you like Sarah Palin or not, whether you think she should be a working mom or not, whether you think she can do the job or even sohould to the job of Vice-president (or president), I hope you would agree that she has lived out her convictions on life.

The public presence of little Trig Palin is a powerful witness to the sanctity of human life, and the knowledge that this little infant wth Down syndrome is bringing such joy to his family is upsetting those who believe that babies such as Trig should never be born.

The facts are daunting.  It is now estimated that between 80 and 90 percent of all unborn babies diagnosed as likely to have Down syndrome are aborted.  The availability of prenatal testing presents parents with the possibility of aborting the baby and starting over.  The statistics now speak for themselves — the vast majority of parents are choosing to abort under these circumstances.

But the visible presence of Trig Palin in the arms of his parents or one of his sisters is resetting that equation, at least in terms of the public’s emotions.  The sight of little Piper Palin licking her hand and flattening Trig’s hair during their mom’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention is likely to stick in the public mind years after Trig’s hair is again unstuck.  It’s hard for even the most ardent abortion defenders to insert an argument against Trig’s precious life at that point.  Or, at least we would think so.

Read the entire articleto see the frustrating position that others are taking … that Sarah Palin may pressure people inappropriately … just by her choice.

Here’s the clip of the convention video where Piper Palin cares for her brother’s hair. I find it interesting that this caring act was labled as “odd behavior” by another poster on You Tube. Hmm. Maybe we are in much worse trouble that I thought.

Getting Men to Church

There’s been lots of discussion about getting men to church. Maybe this is the answer? Nah.

Sounds a Bit Counter-Culture to Where I Live Too

Based on this post at Vitamin Z I think I many need to purchase this book. I remember seeing it last year when it came out but avoided even looking at excerpts for some reason. Maybe it didn’t strike me as a vital read. Or, maybe I’m concerned that it will lead to having to deal with thoughts like those Doug dropped at the end of his blogpost:

Wow. I resonate with that big time. If you’re like me you want people to think you’re a great father with obedient kids; a loving husband who cherishes his wife; and a respected pastor who leads well. It’s like this built in pressure to perform (and get your kids to perform) so that others would think more highly of you. But in reality, I fail. I need help. And so do you. It doesn’t matter how much money we make, what position we hold, or how many A’s our kids get on their report cards, we’re all in need of grace.

In case you’re wondering, Pastors can be posers too….