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September 14, 2011 in Community Thinking 8 Comments

Community Thinking | 6

Last weeks Community Thinking was great. You guys mentioned a ton of books with the other readers of the blog, so thanks! I hope you were encouraged to read something new, or something you have been thinking about reading because of the feedback from other readers.

This week I thought I would continue in the same line of thinking and ask for some feedback on other things. I have two lines of thinking with the Community Thinking platform 1) To help equip each other to serve Jesus better, 2) To open up discussion, so that this blog is not simply just me talking. Last weeks Community Thinking and this weeks are both in-line with the first line of thinking. My hope is that we as an online community, here on the blog, can point people towards great content for the building up of our faith.

1) What Blogs are you reading that you would recommend to others.

2) What sermon, or audio podcast are you listening to that would be good to check out. 

Please make sure that when you post your answer you put a link to the url. Thanks and I look forward to hearing what you have to share.

September 7, 2011 in Community Thinking 23 Comments

Community Thinking | 5

We are now into our fifth week of Community Thinking, and so far it’s going strong. One of the matrix to prove it is going well is that in each of the 232 blogs I have posted, they have averaged 2.3 comments. Of the four Community Thinking blogs there has been a total of 51 comments, which is 12.75 comments a post. So thanks for joining in! We will go for another month and see how things pan out.

For this week’s Community Thinking I wanted to open up the comments to help promote some reading. Since I enjoy reading and consume quite a few books a year, I am always looking for material to digest. Also, I figured since this week on the blog has been about books, with two post already about books (Chalmers and Bonhoeffer) I figured I would post another one. So this week I wanted to ask the following questions:

What’s the best book you have read this year, and what was so good about it?

Also what is one of your favorite books of all time and why?

So share away… Interact with each other! As a “thank you” I might just mail out some books to people who leave comments.

August 30, 2011 in Community Thinking 10 Comments

Community Thinking | 4

For this week’s Community Thinking we are going to attempt to help each other think through our own personal walk with Jesus. There are a number of different issues we struggle with as Christians. Many times the elements I battle with are things that other people have overcome in their life, and their wisdom can be helpful. So with that thought in mind, here is this week’s Community Thinking:

“What is the hardest thing about being a Christian, and why do you struggle with it?”

The hope is that the community can help point you to either resources, subject matter on-line, or offer up advice that may help bring about change in this struggle in your life. Please know that this is not a confession booth. I will delete comments if they get too transparent. 

Here is mine: Sharing my faith with people who don’t know Jesus. I can talk about how, but I struggle with actually doing it.

Here are some of the topics I would guess to see:

I trust and pray that this week’s Community Thinking is a blessing to you!

August 24, 2011 in Community Thinking 4 Comments

Community Thinking | 3

So there has been some really good discussion on week one (Speculation/pointless talk) and two (devotional life) of community thinking, which is good. The purpose of this series is to help us think through things in life. So far you have shared tips with each other, encouragements, gentle correction and more. So this week I thought I would throw a little fire under the pot and see what type of conversation we get on this one. You can thank, if you want to, my brother Nate for suggesting this week’s questionon Facebook (which if you have any ideas for Community Thinking let me know).

“What should a Christian’s role be in politics?”

So there it is, a hot topic for sure. With the economic downturn, president’s ever declining approval rating, and the trillions and trillions of dollars worth of debt to our friendly neighbors around the world this is sure to have vastly different sides, thoughts on our engagement and involvement as Christians. The hope is that we would not debate here, but encourage a biblical perspective on our role within the local political scene, which will take some debate, but let us do so out of love. 

So there it is. Go after it!

August 17, 2011 in Community Thinking 19 Comments

Community Thinking | 2

Last week I started a series called Community Thinking. The idea is to have a conversation about a topic with the goal being that we can help refine each other. The hope is that it will also help this blog become more of a two way conversation, not just me talking all the time.

With that said, here is this weeks thought.

We as humans invest time, energy and effort into those things which matter to us, bring us joy, encourage us, and are fun to do. So why is it that our time with Jesus through intentional  study of the Word, prayer and other spiritual disciplines is so hard? Besides the real and present spiritual warfare piece, there is the problem that we just don’t do it. Your devotional life matters. So today I would like to hear from you about how, when, where and what your time with Jesus consists of.

 Now I would put forth one caution; this could turn into a ‘look at me, and how spiritual I am’  post, and that is not the goal. I will delete post comments that seem to boast on you, or make you look more spiritual! So be cautious, remember even in your best effort to have a steady devotional life, you are still a sinner in need of a Savior.

So here is what I am thinking, here is my daily habit;

     I have to start early, I have kids. So every morning I set my alarm and get out of bed (don’t think this getting out of bed as a small thing, most people set their alarms, it is the getting out of bed part that people struggle with). Next it is time to make coffee, let the dog out, and settle in for some time with Jesus. I start with writing out a morning prayer, not usually all that long, then I write down what I call Gods Grace, these are just names of people, or events that God has blessed me with. Then I read 2-4 chapters in the Bible, right now I am reading through the letters to the churches (Acts-Jude) and also working my way through 2 Kings. Then I journal some prayers, thoughts and get ready for my day. I also have a short nightly routine, that includes prayer with my wife, reading for 15 min- 1 hour (depending on the night) and then some prayer for the day ahead.

So help us out. What have you learned? What things do you have that are useful to stay focused? Where do you do this so you can be less distracted?

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