Tag Archive - prayer

Some Simple, Easy Steps, For You To Partner With a Haitian Church

March 9, 2010 in Ministry-Theology with 0 Comments

Haiti was, and more importantly, IS, a life-transforming experience for me. I’ve been back for a couple of weeks now and trying my best to figure out how I can best be involved. I was scheduled to be back in Haiti this week as well, but for various reasons I could not make it and that trip has been rescheduled. I hope to be back in Haiti soon, but there is plenty of work I can do from where I’m currently living…and so can you.

Lots of people have been asking me about Haiti and how they can get involved. There are lots of great organizations that are serving over there, and I’m super excited to see what AIM is working on. They are the organization that I went over there with, and I fully trust and support the work that they are about.

There vision is bold. And it’s big. And they are rolling it out in some simple, easy to access ways for you to get involved.

Seth Barnes, who is the executive director for AIM posted on his blog over the weekend, Please pray for a church in Haiti. In it, Seth lays out some very simple steps:

Please look at this video below and consider joining with us. It’s not complicated and doesn’t require much. We want to make it easy for you to try it out. Here’s what you do:

  1. Put your name and relevant info in the comment section below or email me at this link to sign up.
  2. We’ll send you the name of a pastor and some info about his church and community. They may write back.
  3. You don’t have to do anything more than pray initially. Ask God, “How shall I respond over the next 3 weeks?”
  4. Let us know what he says and how you’re responding and we’ll communicate that to the pastor in Haiti.

An AIM rep will call or email you after a month. If you’d like to continue the relationship, we’ll talk about where it can go after that.

That’s it! All you need to simply do is inquire, hear about a church and its needs, and pray about a potential partnership.

Look for more details as they come at AIM’s website and continue to check Seth’s blog.

Do Ministers Talk Too Much?

June 15, 2009 in Ministry-Theology with 3 Comments

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[image source]

In the great book, The Way of the Heart: Connecting with God Through Prayer, Wisdom, and Silence by Henri Nouwen, he talks quite a bit about one’s “inner fire.” Last week I posted You Must Protect Your Inner Fire if You Live Online.

I want to pick up on that theme where Nouwen wisely observes how the great artist Vincent van Gogh cared for his “inner fire.” Nouwen says,

Our first and foremost task is faithfully to care for the inward fire so that when it is really needed it can offer warmth and light to lost travelers. Nobody expressed this with more conviction than the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh.

van Gogh states:

There may be a great fire in our soul, yet no one ever comes to warm himself at it, and the passersby only see a wisp of smoke coming through the chimney, and go along their way. Look here, now what must be done? Must one tend the inner fire, have salt in oneself, wait patiently yet with how much impatience for the hour when somebody will come and sit down– maybe to stay? Let him who believes in God wait for the hour that will come sooner or later.

Continue Reading…

Tony Steward: What Are You Passionate About?

February 27, 2009 in Ministry-Theology, Technology-Social Media with 7 Comments

What Are You Passionate About?
I like all the creative things that different bloggers are doing online to help us connect and get to know others in the online community. I love Rick Smith’s “double popped” interviews and John Saddington’s chats or Friday 5′s, as well as the other creative things bloggers are doing.

One of the questions I’m constantly curious of is, “What are you passionate about?” It doesn’t matter if it’s in a therapeutic setting, church setting, or in a casual conversation with a friend, or someone I hardly know.

Locating your passion in life is of utmost value, especially when it correlates with what you do in life, whether that be your vocation, hobbies, service work, etc.

So I’m starting a new series where I plan on asking a different person online “What are you passionate about?” It’s my hope that it’s a great opportunity to get to know others better and see what drives them, and what things we can learn from them.

tonyWho is Tony Steward
Tony is the Online Community Organiser at LifeChurch.tv and someone who I have really come to know well over the last 6 months. And according to Scott McClellan at Collide Magazine he is the first person to hold the title of online community pastor. He is a great guy who I have learned a lot from and you can find his blog here, and his Twitter here.

Let’s begin…

What are you really passionate about?

I am passionate about what happens when the power of the Gospel touches someone and they are able to step into God’s call on their life – the results of that are so exciting. And what is incredible is how the emergence of online tools have allowed us to bring the gospel to people who are gathering online. There is also a tremendous opportunity in how online tools can be used in discipleship, leadership and extending the ministry of the church to the world.

How does what you are doing vocationally or volunteer wise serve that passion?

I am the Online Community Organiser with LifeChurch.tv on the team that brings church online. This both applies to preparing and bringing the gospel online through our experiences at http://live.lifechurch.tv as well as leadership and discipleship development for the people that are a part of our community.

How can those around you (friends, online community, etc.) best support you?

Ideas, Feedback and Prayer. Nobody has ministry online “figured out” and we are in a constant state of measurement, analysis and refinement. We love to partner with other churches and individuals who are passionate about the opportunities online – so getting connected and working together is always a big help and thrill.

But more than anything, prayer.

Anything else we should know about this passion?

Well, there is a lot to know – lol. I think the biggest learning for me right now is that the web is socially very awkward, like a junior high kid at their first dance. We are all still working through a lot of questions, we keep stepping on each others feet, and things are growing and we aren’t always sure what it means. But the dance is where everyone is at, and not being there just means nobody knows you. That and the internet isn’t going away, it isn’t a surprise to God, and we need to learn how be there appropriately to reach all the people that are gathering online.

Leave any comments, questions, thoughts or words of encouragement for Tony below….

Becoming A Heretic on Church Ministry: The Sermon

October 28, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 7 Comments

The Context
Last week I posted a blog, Becoming A Heretic on Church Ministry. I was playing off what Seth Godin says in his new book Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us. You can find my review of the book at Leadership Network.

Godin says:

Challenging the status quo requires a committment, both public and private. It involves reaching out to others and putting yourideas on the line. (Or pinning your Ninety-five Theses to the church door). (pp. 49)

and later in the book, Godin says:

Religion and faith are often confused. Someone who opposes faith is called an atheist and widely reviled. But we don’t have a common word for someone who opposes a particular religion.

Heretic will have to do.

If faith is the foundation of a belief system, then religion is the facade and the landscaping. It’s easy to get caught up in the foibles of a corporate culture and the systems that have been built over time, but they have nothing at all to do with the faith that built the system in the first place.

Change is made by people, by leaders who are proud to be called heretics because their faith is never in question. (pp. 84)

My Thought
I wrote in that post that,

In the next several posts I would like to challenge, raise questions, debate some areas of Church ministry that need some unorthodox thinking in them. Maybe we need more heretics in our midst to help us re-think/re-imagine how the Church could be.

These are areas that I have struggled with a long time as I know many of you have, many of you are beginning to, and others will just think, well, that’s heretical thinking. I’m simply bringing them up to raise discussion and conversation, not because I have all the answers to these. That’s why I want your input.

The Sermon
And so I want to begin with The Sermon. At the time I was especially thinking about the sermon as it has traditionally taken form…a man on stage, engaged in a one way dialogue, speaking at an audience for about 30-45 minutes, without much or any participation or involvement of those in the pew.

My issue with the sermon does not lie in the sermon itself. We see very well known passages of Scripture were sermons are preached (i.e. Jesus at the Sermon on the Mount, or Peter at Pentecost, etc.). Nor are my issues just with the pastor…this is the way we were taught to preach and teach. But as a body of Christ we have also pressed upon it certain expectations–entertainment, education, passive observation, charisma, etc. We have essentially become theater goers that sit in our chair, expecting to be entertained, then afterwards giving our praise or criticism based upon the “performance.” Continue Reading…

Facebook Wins: Katherine Wolf’s mom comments on earlier post about Facebook and prayer chains

April 24, 2008 in Technology-Social Media with 0 Comments

  1. kim arnold Says:
    April 24th, 2008 at 9:36 am Hi,
    I’m Katherine’s mom. I haven’t really been able to get on the computer until last night,just before going to sleep. I was so blown away that I almost woke James up with my crying. This is beyond my wildest imagination. I have ranted about the evils of Facebook for the past several years, and I have seen it used (misused) for great harm. HOWEVER, I am now reminded of Joseph’s situation….what may be meant for evil can be used by God for great good. It is humbling and comforting to see His use of it in this way. Good triumphs! May the cry of my heart go out to the ends of the earth through this vehicle: “Talitha cum!”

    Kim Arnold