Month: July 2007

More from Batterson

I had to head out for awhile today to help one of our road crews but I’m getting a chance to finish listening to Mark Batterson’s opening message to the 2007 Buzz Conference. More good stuff. Listen for yourself especially if you’re in a leadership role in ministry.

More quotes:

“Pacing yourself is one of the great challenges we face as leaders.”

“(God) said, ‘Mark, I want you to know it’s not what you can do for me but what I have done for you.'”

“My greatest fear is that my kids would grow up and regret being a pastor’s kid. If I knew they would regret being a pastor’s kid I would quit today – or maybe after the Buzz conference. I’m not going to sacrifice my family on the alter of ministry.”

“Are you living your life in a way that’s sustainable over the long term?”

3 Resolutions Batterson made this year:

  • Don’t check work related e-mail on my day off “The second I look down at my Palm I’m not 100% with my kids anymore.”
  • Use all of my vacation days this year “My kids deserve all of my vacation days”
  • I’m not going to be away from my family more than 30 nights

“My most important ministry this year by far was coaching my son’s basketball team”

“We as leaders are not real good at keeping a Sabbath. It is one of the 10 Commandments… God instituted the Sabbath for one simple reason, to remind us that we do not keep the planets in orbit.”

“Good routine can become bad routines if we don’t change the routine.”

“After singing a song 30 times you stop thinking about the lyrics. Maybe the role of a worship leader is to keep the worship from becoming this empty routine. Maybe the role of a teaching pastor is to keep the Bible from becoming routine. Maybe the role of a discipleship pastor is to keep the spiritual adventure an adventure and mix it up… good leaders confuse people.”

“Everything is an experiment.”

I love my life


Laurie gets ready
Originally uploaded by Jonathan D. Blundell.

I can’t begin to tell you how much I love my life Laurie.
She continues to amaze me with her strength, patience, joy and life.
God knew exactly what He was doing when He brought us together, when He brought us together.
I love you Laurie. Thanks for loving me like you do.

New Salvation Army Store opened

Thomas and Olly’s Salvation Army in Bellshill, Scotland has opened their new store.
Congrats on opening the new store. I love this quote from Olly on the purpose of the store:
“Yeah..it will be great to raise more funds for the army, but this is not the main aim. Friendships hopefully will be built between the staff and the customers, and hopefully through time we may see some more new faces in our church, or in coming to Alpha, or house groups..ect….and see more people coming to know God as their personal Saviour. This would just be wonderful.”
Great place for a great purpose and a great cause.
Check out some pics from Olly.

American Consolidated buys more

According to Forbes Magazine, Jeremy Halbreich and American Consolidated Media LLC said Wednesday it has bought the publishing assets of Kimberling City Publishing Co. Inc., including the Columbus Daily Advocate in Columbus, Kan.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
The sale also included two weekly publications, The Baxter Springs News in Baxter Springs, Kan., and the Border Star Shopping Guide of Cherokee County, Kan.
American Consolidated is the owner of the Waxahachie Daily Light and several other papers in the area including the Midlothian Mirror, Ennis Journal, Ellis County Chronicle and the Alvarado Post.
The company was purchased and became a subsidy of Macquarie Media Group of Australia. The acquisitions give American Consolidated 10 daily newspapers and 58 other publications in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.

Quotes of the day

Mark Batterson talked about the Moscow Rules at the 2007 Buzz Conference hosted by his church in Washington, D.C.

Here’s some great quotes from the message:

What Batterson says is the core value of his church:
“Irrelevance is Irreverence. God is not just omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent. He’s omni-relevant. He knows 6 billion dialects. He speaks our language. Where we’re failing is in incarnation. We need to incarnate the truth in ways that make sense to our culture.”

“When we quote the Bible we gain credibility with Christians. When we quote non-biblical sources we gain credibility with non-Christians.”

“All truth is God’s truth.”

“Every ‘ology’ is a branch of theology. Because God made it all.”

“You can preach for two reasons because you have to or because you have to. You can preach because you have to because you’re on the schedule this week and you’re up to bat. You’re in the batters box. Or you can preach because you have to because there is a message that’s burning into you and you are like Paul compelled to preach. His fire showed up in your bones and you need to say something.”

“I want to study less and live more so my sermons are less theoretical and more experientially. I don’t think what NCC needs is a sermon well preached. They need a life well lived. I need to make sure I’m not just talking about things I’m living things. It’s our example that we set. I think the best thing I can do is try to be a great dad. Try to be a good husband. Try to live my life in a way that honors God and then more people will get it because we all know that Christianity is more caught than taught.”

Listen online: http://buzzconference.com/media

Mesquite boy named President

Twelve-year-old Sterling Watson, of Mesquite, Texas was named President of the US for a day thanks to the Make A Wish Foundation.
With the help of a dozen or so government agencies, Sterling, who was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma, appointed members of his family to his cabinet, was greeted by the US Army’s 3rd Infantry Division Band with “Hail to the Chief” and presented the division’s soldiers with ceremonial gifts – red pencils printed with “President Sterling Watson.”
Sterling also gave a speech to the US Postal Service, received a briefing at the Department of Health and Human Services, visited 150 employees at U.S. Customs and Border Protection and held a press conference to name one of the agency’s new canines. He chose the name Yeller.
“It is only in America that a little boy from Mesquite, Texas, can wish of someday being President of the United States and actually have that wish come true,” Sterling said after being inaugurated.
Read the full story from Make A Wish