I stumbled across this site thanks to a Catalyst Post and it’s a useful look at varying perspectives on God. This site gives voice to the raw thoughts of many that the average Christian would never hear. At the very least it gives insight into the struggles some face with the whole “faith” thing and serves as a good reminder of the people God wants us believers to share His gift with… (and take a careful look at just how well we’re sharing!)

I just read an interesting post by Seth Godin called, “Which comes first (why stories matter)“. In it, Seth points out the interesting relationship between the work we do and the story we have. Two points caught my attention:

The work is what people talk about, because it’s what we experience. In other words, the work tells a story.

Then a bit later he goes on to say,

…if you decide what the story is, you can do work that matches the story. Your decisions will match the story. The story will become true because you’re living it.

As I read this article I immediately thought of James 2,

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. - James 2:17-18 (NIV)

The Christian story is one that should have influence over everything the believer does and everything we do should flow out of the gospel narrative and how it has transformed us (the story). James articulates that faith (the story we believe in) is connected with the “works” we do and if there are no works then there really isn’t any faith.

I recently came across this article in Newsweek (January 8, 2007, Jerry Adler) - here’s an excerpt,

‘Hi my name is Lindy and I deny the existence of the Holy Spirit and you should too.’

With that five-second submission to YouTube, a 24-year-old who uses the name “menotsimple” has either condemned herself to an eternity of punishment in the afterlife or struck a courageous blow against superstition. She’s one of more than 400 mostly young people who have joined a campaign by the Web site BlasphemyChallenge.com to stake their souls against the existence of God. That, of course, is the ultimate no-win wager, as the 17th-century French mathematician Blaise Pascal calculated?it can’t be settled until you’re dead, and if you lose, you go to hell.

I went and visited the site and discovered that the “blasphemy challenge” offers an incentive for those who would do what Lindy did. Guess what the incentive is? People who take up the challenge and follow the instructions (which include the requirement to explicitly say, “I deny the existence of the Holy Spirit” in their video) will receive a free copy of “The God Who Wasn’t There”.

Reading the article, What Happens When Children Lead by Patrice Wheeler was exciting for me because it matches the desire I have for children in my own church (and of course my own kids).? Patrice writes about taking some children from the children’s ministry at her church (Scarborough Gospel Temple) on a Short Term Missions trip to Trinidad.? The team consisted of five children aged 11 to 13 and two other adults and as Patrice writes in her article, the children were very involved in the actual ministry on the trip.? Not only that but the preparation leading up to, and the followup afterwards involved not only the children on the team but other children from the church as well in various support activities for the trip.

What excited me in reading this article is to see these young children not only encouraged to be involved in ministry but also released to serve in ministry.? In other words, this church didn’t only talk about wanting to see their kids doing ministry but they actually equipped them and released them into opportunities to serve.

I came across this interesting article by Peter C. Glover called Child Discipline and the Limits of the Civil Law. In the article Peter addresses the topic of when civil laws begin to dictate the limits of discipline allowable by parents on their children (i.e. spanking) what the appropriate response of parents should be.? I think Peter does a fairly good job of handling the subject of spanking or physical discipline as well both from a bibilical and practical viewpoint.

Personally, I believe parents should have the freedom to physically discipline their child however in my home, spanking is always a last resort and only used in situations that warrant it.? I think a more important key to discipline is that your children are discouraged from doing the wrong activity again.? If parents are diligent in understanding their children (through spending time with them), they will learn what appropriate form of punishment works best with each child.? For example, I could spank one of my children ’till their bum was raw and I was blue in the face (a figure of speech, I would never do that of course) and it wouldn’t have the slightest effect on his behavior.? But if I was to put them in a corner and make them stay there for 5 minutes it definitely affects his behavior.? Another one of my children has a favorite blanket and if the discipline is removal of her blanket for a day that is the most effective discipline we could use.? The point is that parents need to learn what is the most effective discipline for their child and use it.