• Planet Narnia Spin. Devin Brown challenges the central thesis of Michael Ward’s book, Planet Narnia.
• Praying in a Mosque. Protestant pastor Edward H. Schreur shares what he learned from praying in a mosque.
• Free Class on Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses. Rob Bowman’s class on understanding Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses is available on iTunes for free.

(Last week and this I am sharing my Personal Theology of Ministry. Click here for more posts from the Personal Theology of Ministry series.)

Grace is the hallmark of true Christian ministry:

Therefore my ministry will be characterized by grace. We are all sinners in need of God’s grace (Ephesians 2:1-9). The gospel we share is the gospel of grace (Acts 20:24). An understanding of God’s grace and kindness leads people to repentance and salvation (Romans 2:4; Titus 3:3-8). People only grow in Christ and bear fruit as they come to understand God’s grace in all its truth (Colossians 1:6). Therefore, as a pastor my attitude will be marked by gentleness and grace. I will restore others gently, carry other’s burdens and maintain humility (Galatians 6:1-5). I will not quarrel but gently instruct others in the truth (2 Timothy 2:24-26). I will answer people’s questions with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15-16). I will grow in God’s grace and encourage others to do the same (2 Peter 3:18). Once again, Jesus Christ is our supreme example. Christ models gentleness in ministry, sympathy with people’s weaknesses, and approachability (Matthew 11:28-30; Hebrews 4:15-16).

Back to Table of Contents | Next section: Accountability ( PTOM 8 )

Related post: Church Search

Google just unveiled new search options to help you search for information more effectively. Whenever you search for an item, the search results page now includes a “Show options” link at the top left of the page. Click on “Show options,” and Google will open up a left sidebar with additional filtering options such as:

• Videos, forums, or reviews
• Recent results, past 24 hours, past week, or past year
• Images from the page, or more text
• Related searches, Wonder Wheel, or Timeline view

Here is a brief video showing these new search options in action:

(Video length: 2:04)

HT: Lifehacker

(Last week and this I am sharing my Personal Theology of Ministry. Click here for more posts from the Personal Theology of Ministry series.)

God’s Word is central to all effective ministry:

Therefore I will make God’s word central to my ministry. I am a minister of Christ and God’s word. Paul charged Timothy to preach, correct, rebuke, encourage, instruct and evangelize (2 Timothy 4:1-5). He told him to devote himself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching (1 Timothy 4:11-14). God’s word is the power for salvation, especially through the gospel of Jesus Christ (Romans 1:16; 2 Timothy 3:15). God’s word also contains the power for spiritual growth (1 Peter 1:23-2:3). God’s word never returns empty but always goes forth to accomplish his purposes (Isaiah 55:10-11). Should I stray from the word of God, I abandon my calling, power and authority. I will proclaim the whole will of God (Acts 20:27-31) and watch my own life and doctrine closely (1 Timothy 4:15-16). I will run all of my decisions through God’s word and base my life and ministry on Biblical values.

Back to Table of Contents | Next section: Gentleness and Grace (PTOM 7)

Related post: Church Search

• Reach Out. Jonathan Dodson shares eight simple ways you can spend more time with non-Christian friends.
• Lost and Narnia. I have never seen the TV show Lost, but apparently it contains some interesting (and intentional) parallels to the works of C. S. Lewis and the Narnia Chronicles.
• Kideo Video Player. Kideo Player is a kid-safe YouTube video viewer with an emphasis on fun and educational videos. Just hit the spacebar to advance to the next video.

Martha Mason passed away last week at the age of 71 after spending 60 years living inside an iron lung. Mason was paralyzed from the neck down due to a childhood case of polio and was one of about 30 Americans left who live full time in iron lungs. There are no documented cases of anyone living in an iron lung for as long as Mason. From the New York Times:

From her horizontal world — a 7-foot-long, 800-pound iron cylinder that encased all but her head — Ms. Mason lived a life that was by her own account fine and full, reading voraciously, graduating with highest honors from high school and college, entertaining and eventually writing.

She chose to remain in an iron lung, she often said, for the freedom it gave her. It let her breathe without tubes in her throat, incisions or hospital stays, as newer, smaller ventilators might require. It took no professional training to operate, letting her remain mistress of her own house, with just two aides assisting her.

“I’m happy with who I am, where I am,” Ms. Mason told The Charlotte Observer in 2003. “I wouldn’t have chosen this life, certainly. But given this life, I’ve probably had the best situation anyone could ask for.”

Okay, no complaining about anything for me today — and maybe tomorrow, too!

HT: Neatorama

Survival Tip #14:

When surrounded by a flock of hungry vultures, never play dead.

Click here for more Survival Tips.

(Last week and this I am sharing my Personal Theology of Ministry. Click here for more posts from the Personal Theology of Ministry series.)

Apart from God nothing of lasting value can be accomplished:

Therefore I will do the work of the ministry in full dependency on God through the Holy Spirit. In order to bear fruit I must remain in Christ. Apart from Christ I can do nothing (John 15:5). When Paul came to Corinth he did not depend on his own human skills or strength. Instead he resolved to know nothing but Christ crucified and relied fully on the Holy Spirit to authenticate his message (1 Corinthians 2:1-5). The Holy Spirit is the one who gives gifts for ministry. I must depend on him for these gifts if I am to speak as one speaking the very words of God and to serve with the strength God provides (1 Peter 4:10-11). Much of this dependency is demonstrated through prayer. Even Christ in his earthly ministry modeled dependency on God the Father through prayer (Luke 5:16; Hebrews 5:7).

Back to Table of Contents | Next section: The Centrality of Scripture (PTOM 6)

Related post: Church Search

Yesterday’s message was called Letter to Mom, taken from 2 John 1-13. Here is a brief outline of the message:

Three responsibilities of a Christian mother:
    1) Know the truth (verses 1-3)
    2) Practice the truth (verses 4-6)
    3) Guard the truth in your home (7-11)

Note: Click on the Sermons tab at the top of the blog for this and other messages.

Ann Voskamp offers this thoughtful reflection on a mother’s work and God:

All work is sacred work, worthy of the diligence, the effort. I pick up lost legos, dry the pots, whish the toilets and this serves God. For if I can’t meet God in my work, where do I meet Him? If I don’t serve Him here, where do I serve Him? Are we not called to serve God in the work – not merely in some imagined, mirage place outside of work?

In a model of Christian work, we live one-piece lives, all weaving together into a sacred cloth as unto the Lord with no false seams between God and our days.

And in our work, sacred work because there is no such thing as secular work, we first serve God. I’ll put away the laundry, sweep the crumbs, polish the windows not to serve my family primarily, but to serve God.

If you are a mother, or even if you are not, I encourage you to go to Ann’s site, read the whole article, and enjoy the music and pictures.

Click here for more pictures of animal moms and their babies.

This poem is a good reminder of a mother’s influence in her child’s life.

I took a piece of plastic clay
And idly fashioned it one day,
And as my fingers pressed it still,
It moved and yielded at my will.

I came again when days were past;
The bit of clay was hard at last,
The form I gave it still it bore,
But I could change that form no more.

I took a piece of living clay,
And gently formed it day by day,
And molded with my power and art
A young child’s soft and yielding heart.

I came again when days were gone;
It was a man I looked upon;
That early impress still he wore,
And I could change it never more.

(Author Unknown)

Related post: The Magic Dresser (A Poem for Mother’s Day)