Thursday, September 4, 2003

September 4, 2003


11:27 AM Eric Swanson has written a very insightful article that applies to churches in metropolitan areas. The needs are so vast, how will we ever make a difference? He says we need to make ten paradigm shifts, including “from building walls to building bridges,” “from measuring attendance to measuring impact,” “from ‘serve us’ to service,” “from condemning the city to blessing it and praying for it.” There is much more—including links to churches doing this sort of thing in major American cities. I found it challenging to read and very appicable to our own situation in Oak Park. Special thanks to Phil Miglioratti of the National Pastors Prayer Network for putting the article online. 8:56 AM Writing in the prestigious Columbia Journalism Review, Matt Welch says that weblogs are a new and exciting form of journalism made possible by the Internet. One thoughtprovoking excerpt:

Like just about everything else, blogging changed forever on September 11, 2001. The destruction of the World Trade Center and the attack on the Pentagon created a huge appetite on the part of the public to be part of The Conversation, to vent and analyze and publicly ponder or mourn.

The whole article is well worth reading. There are millions of weblogs online already and more are being added every day. 8:12 AM Oops! I just realized I turned an extra page in the “Living Sacrifices” devotional booklet yesterday and read the wrong devotional. The one for today is written by Helen Mildenhall and is based on Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Here’s a quote:

One of the challenges for us is that although God knows what good works He’s prepared for us, we don’t. Some of the opportunities He brings us may catch us unawares in a moment of weakness. We may “pass by on the other side,” because we feel too busy or too tired to get involved. Yet, if we make ourselves available and respond whenever God calls us into action, we’ll have the joy of bearing fruit that lasts, for His glory.

Do you have any thoughts or questions about this post?