One last reminder to all of you who have this blog in your rss feedreader - Next week it ends here. I'm shuttin 'er down, moving on... Actually I have been moved for a couple weeks.
Hey folks... If you want to read the latest musings from my confused mind, you need to head over to http://charleswhitmire.wordpress.com/
Hey everyone - thanks for following my connexionpastor blog over the past two years. If you've liked what you've read, please consider changing your feed reader to my new blog at http://charleswhitmire.wordpress.com/
Read the posts by Ben Arment, and you'll understand my title. Both these posts make great points and are worth your time...
I am a Baptist. I've always been pretty proud of that. It's been who I am for a long time. While I recognize that not all of what Baptists do is great (we do have some flaws) I support and love most of what we do. I am not, however, one given to following the 'party' line, which sometimes creates some problems for me.
Sometimes I feel that I live in two worlds. First, there is the SBC world. It is big, powerful, and tribal. SBC world is so big that you can live your life in that world and never know there is a broader Christian community. In that world, almost every pastor would know who Junior Hill is, but I am guessing many of my non-SBC readers do not. Second, there is the broader Christian world. And, there are some movements in that world that impact the SBC world. More on that in a moment. This week is a mix for me and it prompted this blog post. In just a few hours after posting this I will be speaking at the New Mexico SBC Evangelism Conference. To them, I will be the "progressive" guy. But, they bring me in to shake things up. In SBC life, I am the guy that they consider "safe enough" because I am in the family and really do believe the doctrine, but "dangerous enough" that people will come to watch me get myself in trouble. The next day I am at the Innovation3 conference and many will think of me of the guy who is stuck in the past because (for example) I think "Internet Church" is like "United Baptist," two words that won't go well together. And, of course, when I am at the Vineyard National Leadership Forum on Thursday and they will not know what do to with me, but they are always nice and I am glad they would think to invite me. But, Baptists have their own world. One big SBC guy writes a book and soon every other big SBC pastor endorses it. And, that's not bad. But, if we don't get out sometimes we end up a little too inbred.
My favorite player in Major League Soccer, Dwayne De Rosario, formerly of (my favorite team) the Houston Dynamo has been traded to Toronto FC. I'm happy for him, but man - we are gonna miss that guy next season!!
Mark Batterson is one of the most creative pastors I know. He's a pretty sharp cookie and serves up a great reminder for us right here...
A few years ago I read a book by R.T. Kendall titled The Anointing. I memorized something he said because it's so true: "The greatest opposition to what God is doing today comes from those who were on the cutting edge of what God was doing yesterday."
One of my greatest fears is that I would lose my innovative edge. I never want to become a closed-system. That's why I read like crazy. That's why I go to conferences. That's why I doreconnaissance at other churches. It boils down to this: you never arrive. And if you think you have, it's the beginning of the end. One of my fall back verses is I Corinthians 8:2: "He who thinks he knows does not yet know as he ought to know." Translation? The more you know, the more you know how much you don't know!
Kljestan, who spent a week in Scotland on trial with Celtic, scored on a free kick in the 16th minute and converted a penalty kick in the 40th minute and added a late insurance goal moments after Sweden scored. The game helped the U.S. open its busy 2009 calendar with a triumph and now the Red, White and Blue will focus on their World Cup qualifying match against Mexico at Columbus Crew Stadium on Feb. 11.
Sacha Kljestan had a hat trick as the United States national team beat Sweden 3-2 in an international friendly at The Home Depot Center on Saturday night.
**Dear Reader: This sort of thing isn't something I do too often, but it is probably something I should do a little more of, so occasionally, as my fancy dictates, I am going to post a verse of scripture that speaks to me. I'll try to keep the 'preachin' to a minimum :=)**
I've met Gary a couple of times, and I read his blog and twitters. He's a freak of a church planter, and someone I really admire. I don't always agree with him, but I have a huge amount of respect for him. Gary's all consuming passion is to reach people who are far from God - which makes him a "good guy" in my book.
"I’m learning very quickly that what people love about you will in the end be what they hate about you…
For example:
I’m not sure there is anything that can be done about it, but it is an interesting thought that is rattling around in my mind right now."
Floyd's back and racing in the Tour of California... I, for one, am rooting for him big-time! You can read all about his comeback here.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama retook his oath of office Wednesday after Chief Justice John Roberts flubbed while delivering it at Tuesday's inauguration. President Barack Obama takes the oath of office -- his second in two days -- in the White House on Wednesday. The second oath -- also administered by Roberts -- took place at 7:35 p.m. Wednesday in the White House's Map Room. Roberts asked Obama whether he was ready. "I am, and we're going to do it very slowly," Obama replied. The do-over was aimed at dispelling any confusion that might arise from Tuesday's take -- in which "faithfully" was said out of sequence -- and erase any question that Obama is legally the president. However, per the Constitution, Obama became president at noon Tuesday without taking the oath
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