Young Influencers List, February Edition

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:58:15 +0000

Here you go, the February edition of the Young Influencers List. You can check out all the past months lists here. 1. Dale Partridge- CEO and Chief Word Changer at Sevenly, plus die hard entrepreneur and writer. 2. Jeremy Lin- recent phenom and point guard for the New York Knicks. Linsanity!! 3. Justin Buzzard- pastor of [...]

Stand Up and Be Counted

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:13:07 +0000

They say that those who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it. I’ve (re)learned something over the past week or so that I know I knew. At the same time, I’ve really learned that what you learn from history is often that what was once applied in a certain situation can be applied [...]

Leadership Lessons from playing Point Guard

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 02:46:40 +0000

I played point guard on my high school basketball team. We were pretty good. Not great, but pretty good. And I was average as a point guard….. yeah, football and golf were my real sports! But I learned some solid leadership lessons playing the point, and when I watch great point guards play basketball still [...]

My Simple Rules for Greetings

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 15:54:27 +0000

Hello. How are you? What’s up? Hey. All of us greet differently. There is no right or wrong. These are a few of my thoughts on Greetings that might create a few laughs. Most of these are related to greetings within the office, but a few are appropriate anywhere. Enjoy these and add more below [...]

Take Two

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:07:22 +0000

The conference season is starting, and I thought that I’d pass along a word of wisdom from someone who has gone to way too many conferences: if you are going to a conference for the first time, if at all possible, go with someone else, or find someone else you know who is going Picture [...]

NECEP 2012 Pastors' Conference

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:39:00 +0000

If you're a pastor or aspiring pastor within striking distance of New England, let me encourage you to check out the 2012 NECEP Pastors' Conference which will take place on May 7-8. Ligon Duncan, Al Mohler, and others will be expounding 2 Timothy with an explicit focus on encouraging preachers and future preachers.

I'd especially encourage aspiring pastors to check out the conference and the preaching internship which NECEP runs each summer. 

Praying So As To Teach

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:23:55 +0000

Public praying is a responsibility as well as a privilege... Many facets of Christian discipleship, not least prayer, are rather more effectively passed on by modeling than by formal teaching. Good praying is more easily caught than taught. If it is right to say that we should choose models from whom we can learn, then the obverse truth is that we ourselves become responsible to become models for others. So whether you are leading a service or family prayers, whether you are praying in a small-group Bible study or at a convention, work at your public prayers.

-- D.A. Carson, A Call to Spiritual Reformation (page 35)

And just to head off potential objections... before you suggest that it's always a sin to give thought to the way others will hear your prayer (as in Matthew 6:5-8), take time to wrestle with Jesus' example in John 11:41-42.

A Review of 'Finding Faithful Elders and Deacons'

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:36:48 +0000

As you may know, we recently released a new book by Thabiti Anyabwile called Finding Faithful Elders and Deacons. In this book, Anyabwile points us to 1 Timothy 3 and 4, explaining how we identify, equip, and encourage leaders in the local church. For pastors, we hope this book will be a helpful resource for raising up elders and deacons from within the church. For church members, our hope is that this book will serve as a kind of "mirror" to help Christians examine their own lives. In our efforts to build healthy churches, we understand that faithful leadership is vitallly important. As such, we offer Finding Faithful Elders and Deacons as a means of helping churches understand the "why" and "how" of raising up such leaders.

So what are people saying about Finding Faithful Elders and Deacons? Well, since the release of the book last month, we have heard feedback from a variety of sources on its practical usefulness for church leaders. Matt Smethurst at The Gospel Coalition has written a review of the book, and I encourage you to check it out. Smethurst calls Finding Faithful Elders and Deacons "an accessible, practical, and altogether helpful resource for raising up reliable men to lead the blood-bought bride of Christ."

You can read Matt Smethurst's book review here. We pray that Finding Faithful Elders and Deacons would prove useful and encoruaging to you as you seek to display God's glory in your church.

Curtain Closing Tutorial (After Effects Puppet Tool)

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:33:38 +0000

An After Effects tutorial that shows you how to create a swaying curtain using the Puppet Pin tool. danstevers.com

Journal of Biblical Counseling Back Online, for Free

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:15:17 +0000

In case you haven't heard, CCEF has brought back their Journal of Biblical Counseling. It's now free online.

This is an excellent resource for pastors that provides biblical and practical reflection on church-based, Christ-centered counseling. 

Of special note is a new article by David Powlison on "The Pastor as Counselor." I'd commend both the article and the whole journal to pastors who want to grow in counseling their people and equiping their people to counsel.