OK, this video is very interesting to me. It’s a conversation between Francis Chan, Joshua Harris, and Mark Driscoll. You get the message pretty quickly that there was a topic they were planning on discussing but it gets thrown out the window because there is a more pressing issue at hand. Josh and Mark spend the time challenging Francis on a few things regarding his recent decision to resign from his church and start something new.
I almost felt like a voyeur watching a very personal conversation. At the same time, you could see that these guys are humble and teachable. This video is a great model of the types of conversations we should be willing to have with those around us.
It’s only 15 minutes long and definitely worth watching.
As we hit different Old Testament books in the Text Project, I post little summaries here on my blog. If you are too lazy to read, here’s a video version for ya:
Isaiah
Author
Isaiah, a prophet
Date
Somewhere around 700 BC
Theme
God always has his people, even if everyone else is walking away. In Isaiah, we see the prophet calling God’s people (particularly those of the nation / tribe of Judah) to repentance. He is reminding them that God will be faithful to judge them because of their rebellion and that he will be equally faithful to fulfill his unconditional covenant with Abraham. That means he will eventually give them back the land God had promised Israel forever.
Isaiah shifts into future mode in the end of the book, describing in prophetic form Jesus’ atoning work on the cross and the coming Kingdom (which we still wait for today).
What this book teaches me about Jesus
This book is a great picture that God judges and saves. You can see Jesus all over this book if you just look for him.
Random Thoughts
Isaiah 53 is perhaps one of the most famous prophecies about Jesus, but you’ll find lots of other familiar verses as you read through this book.
Let me use it in a sentence for you: “I am one of the pastors at XYZ Church.”
Not sure if it’s me, but I am hearing this phrase more and more lately and I smile each time. It seems that perhaps we are beginning to recapture the often neglected biblical principle of a team of pastors/elders leading the church together.
Recently I have heard this phrase used by Larry Osborne, Mark Driscoll, Greg Surratt, and Pete Wilson to mention a few. They are from a wide range of theological / denominational camps, by the way.
Just wanted to remind you that our next LEAD event is coming up on September 18, 2010 from 9am to 2pm.
This time around, we’re doing it a bit different. We’ll have a couple main sessions (one of which will consist entirely of music, communion, and prayer). We’ll also be offering specific training if you serve with RivKids, Chaos, The Element, EPIC, Life Groups, or Welcome Team. If you aren’t serving in one of those areas, we’ll also be offering our most popular class (Decision Making) and a new class on Interpersonal Communication you can take instead.
The cost is only $10 (to help cover lunch), but if you can’t afford that just let us know and we’ll cover you. We don’t want the cost to be the reason you can’t make it.
Recently, Kiplinger rated Lansing as one of the Top 10 Great Cities for Young Adults. This put us in the same category as Chicago, New York City, Portland, and Washington DC. For a lot of people, this was kinda a shocker.
“Seriously, Lansing?” was what I heard over and over when I told people about the article.
But even as someone who grew up here and wanted to get away as soon as I could, I am growing to love this city. I asked people on Twitter and Facebook to tell me why Lansing is great and here are their top ten responses (in no order with a little commentary from me).
Integrated
I actually hear this one quite a bit from people who move in from other cities. While there are definitely neighborhoods with different feels, there’s quite a bit of integration. In most parts of town, there are nice houses and not so nice houses, a broad range of races, people of different economic status all kind of on top of each other. Even where I live in Holt, you are always within a few minutes from some huge houses and some trailer parks. This sounds weird to some people, but it creates an integrated living experience. I’m also noticing a lot more bi-racial marriages, but maybe that’s just because I tend to notice that particular thing.
Affordable
The cost of living is cheap here, period. Your money can go a lot longer than in most other places. You can live better on less (remember that when hunting for jobs).
Friendly
I just got back from Seattle where I tried to smile at people while walking down the street. Nobody would make eye contact with me. The people in Lansing are a lot more friendly to strangers. They smile, nod, and every once in awhile hold doors for people. My sons and I are on a mission to make the last one something we’re known for.
Easy to Get Around
You can pretty much get anywhere in town in under 25 minutes.
Festivals
For a smallish city, we have a lot of festivals. Off the top of my head, I can think of the Silver Bells Festival, Moonlight Film Festival, East Lansing Arts Festival, Common Ground Music Festival, Lansing JazzFest. I’m sure there are more.
Churches
There are a lot of different styles of churches around town. Granted, I would like to see more and hope to start more, but there are some really great faith communities in town, including a dozen or so new churches in the last 5 years.
Higher Education
Lansing has 5 medical schools, 2 law schools (including the country’s largest), a community college and MSU. Add to that extension universities for Davenport, CMU, WMU, and others and you have a lot of education options.
Shopping
Little places like the Lansing City Market, the Holt Farmer’s Market, Lamb’s Gate Antiques, and Elderly Instruments make our city unique. You can find these shops all over town.
Eating
From hole in the wall places like Sawyer’s Pancake House to upscale places like Enso’s, we have a decent selection of places to eat. You don’t have to settle for fast food.
Stuff To Do
No one ever thinks their own town has anything to do, but Lansing boasts quite a bit. We have the Wharton Center for the Performing Arts, the Lugnuts, Hawk Island Park, Burchfield Mountain Biking Trails, Impression 5 Museum, Potter Park Zoo, and many more.
52 weeks ago, I started a weekly tradition called Friday Random Linkness. The goal was to keep me focused on my other blog posts and to keep the randomness confined to one day. Shockingly, I have actually held to this tradition all year (except for my one month fast from Social Media).
Today, in honor of the past year, here are my top 20 favorite random links from the year, in the order I posted them:
OK…I think the British have convinced me to stop texting while driving. (Warning: this is graphic…and one line is haunting me: “Mommy, Daddy, please wake up.”)
Need parallel parking lessons? Take them from this kid.
According to BBC (you read that right), researchers have determined that a zombie attack would lead to the collapse of civilization as we know it. Duh.
Addicted to NoelHeikkinen.com so much you aren’t getting any work done? Turn off your Mac’s networking for a couple hours. Love this.
Over a year ago, I was blogging my way through the Old Testament and I stopped. I figure I will periodically pick it up again as we encounter various books in the Text Project. Since we are reading through Job right now, I figured I’d start here.
Job
Author
Nobody, this side of heaven, can identify the author of this book.
Date
Experts are all over on this one, just like with the Authorship. Some place Job way back to 2000BC, some in the 6th century BC, and some in the 3rd century BC. The only thing for certain is that you can’t be dogmatic on your view.
Theme
You think you know suffering? You know nothing of suffering. Job was just about as close to perfect as a man can get. He was a moral, upstanding, godly individual and his life fell apart. In the matter of minutes, he loses a huge fortune and a large loving family.
His response is to ask God “why?” This is a good thing. Then he eventually turns to demanding an answer from God. This is not a good thing. God sets him straight.
There’s also a great set of dialogue between Job and his wife, as well as Job and his friends. Pretty much everyone blames Job or God, but he won’t go there.
What this book teaches me about Jesus
Like Jesus himself said, “God sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous alike.” Suffering happens to all of us, no matter of “good” we think we are. But Jesus came and suffered the most, even though he deserved it the least.
Random Thoughts
Job is a masterpiece of literature. The author is a literary genius, he is well versed in science and human nature as well. If you can pull it off, sit down and read it straight through in one sitting.
Dan and I will be spending the week in Seattle as we begin taking Master’s classes in The Missional Leadership Program at The Resurgence Training Center. This year we are going to attempt the crazy plan of going to school in Seattle, all while trying to be good dads and husbands and continue pastoring full-time at Riv.
It’s going to be an interesting year, so we would appreciate your prayers and understanding if we seem dazed and confused on occasion. Luckily, we have amazing wives who are very supportive of what we are doing and a kick butt assistant who will manage our schedules and protect our time ferociously.
Hi, I'm Noel and I'm a recovering
hypocrite. I spend the majority of my time pastoring and teaching at
Riverview, surfing the internet on my iProducts,
and hanging out with my smoking hot wife and four wildly talented
children. I plan on spending the rest of my life figuring out how to vicariously
plant hundreds of churches without ever leaving my church. Oh, and even though I work for Riv, everything here is my personal
opinion and nothing more.
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