Speak With Authority
Listen to poet Taylor Mali speak for two minutes about speaking with authority. Hilarious. Helpful. Powerful.
Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.
Christ Church San Francisco
Several months ago my good friend, Toby Kurth, planted Christ Church in San Francisco. I’m looking forward to preaching at Christ Church this Sunday. God, through Toby and the people of Christ Church, is doing great things in the city of San Francisco.
Where Does Average Come From?
Where Does Average Come From?
It comes from two places:
1. You have been brainwashed by school and by the system into believing that your job is to do your job and follow instructions. It’s not, not anymore.
2. Everyone has a little voice inside of their head that’s angry and afraid. That voice is the resistance–your lizard brain–and it wants you to be average (and safe).
-Seth Godin, Linchpin p. 5
Commit Tonight
A great group of friends contributed to the second issue of Commit. Commit will be available tonight, for $5, at The Christ, Sex, & The City Conference with Peter Jones. If you haven’t made plans to come to the conference, do so immediately.
Now you can also purchase Commit online and read a sample article or two.
How Is Your Spiritual Life Going?
“How is your spiritual life going?”
I used to answer this question by looking at the state of my devotional activities: Did I pray and read the Bible enough today? The problem is that by this measure the Pharisees always win. People can be very disciplined, but remain proud and spiteful. How do we measure spiritual growth so that the Pharisees don’t win?
-John Ortberg, The Me I Want to Be, p. 21
A Pastor’s Study
Every pastor needs a good study–a place to study, pray, create, dream, and meet with people. Earlier this year my church kindly remodeled my study. The best thing about this space is the oversized, 7ft. long desk. Here are a few pictures.
Brian Newman
Brian Newman is a great guy.
Brian is also a great designer–web, print, etc.
Brian is the guy that does all the design work for our Commit Magazine. He also designed this for me.
Do you need design work done? Contact Brian Newman. Here’s his website.
Proverbs 3:3-12, A Mini Guide to Life
On The Gospel Coalition Blog, Tim Keller writes:
In my regular, daily Bible reading over the past year I read through Proverbs 3, a passage I’ve studied and preached through many times. But during this reading, I realized that in verses 3 through 12 we have all the themes of the rest of the book, and therefore a kind of mini-guide to faithful living. There are five things that comprise a wise, godly life. They function both as means to becoming wise and godly as well as signs that you are growing into such a life:
1. Put your heart’s deepest trust in God and his grace. Every day remind yourself of his unconditioned, covenantal love for you. Do not instead put your hopes in idols or in your own performance.
2. Submit your whole mind to the Scripture. Don’t think you know better than God’s word. Bring it to bear on every area of life. Become a person under authority.
3. Be humble and teachable toward others. Be forgiving and understanding when you want to be critical of them; be ready to learn from others when they come to be critical of you.
4. Be generous with all your possessions, and passionate about justice. Share your time, talent, and treasure with those who have less.
5. Accept and learn from difficulties and suffering. Through the gospel, recognize them as not punishment, but a way of refining you.
Go here to read Keller’s unpacking of these 5 points.
Put It All on The Altar
Here’s my sermon from Sunday: Put It All on The Altar, from Genesis 4:1-10. I had a blast preaching this message.
What They Should Teach in School
What They Should Teach in School
Only two things:
1. Solve interesting problems
2. Lead
-Seth Godin, Linchpin p. 47
