Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Popular Posts in a Short Month

Did Someone Say "Leap?"
The shortest month of the year got another day & its... still... the shortest month. But check out the most popular posts on this leap day!

Listed below are my most popular posts for the month. Notice that Craig Fritchey took over the month in less than a week! Also note that he is about to bust into "all time" territory. Happy reading!

Posts in February
Feb 23, 2012
21 Pageviews
Dec 20, 2011, 1 comment
19 Pageviews
Feb 20, 2012
17 Pageviews
Feb 1, 2012, 2 comments
16 Pageviews
Feb 22, 2012
14 Pageviews

Posts All Time
Dec 20, 2011, 1 comment
43 Pageviews
Sep 26, 2011
23 Pageviews
Jan 30, 2012, 1 comment
22 Pageviews
Nov 11, 2011
22 Pageviews
Jan 18, 2012
22 Pageviews

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Red House Over Yonder... Blue Like Jazz

The Bible
He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.
-- Ecclesiastes 3.11
The Analysis 
I have always loved the blues. I think I love it because it is a real expression of the natural longing for more that is built inside each of us. The Blues acknowledge my lack of satisfaction with who I am now & motivate me to improve. My old Sunday School teacher sent me this text just this morning:
You can change. None of us is the same person we were a year ago or a decade ago. Out bodies are changing--there's no denying hat. But our minds, hearts, habits, personalities and relationships are changing too. We just need to make sure we are changing for the better, that we're being transformed from glory to glory, that we're growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ. Those who refuse to change are not God-fearers, because those who love Him are changing every day. Don't be afraid to make some changes in your life, and don't be afraid to let Christ change you from within.
I don't know if that is an original quote or something he was passing on, but it struck me today. My wife passed on a challenge to me from the Blue Like Jazz promotional crew. It is a challenge to promote this movie in my sphere of influence. I have been thinking a lot about influence & how to exert it. Mostly, I'm infatuated with my Klout score (never mind that I have less Klout than my wife, who gets reblogged all the time on Tumblr). Selfish, I know. So I am doing this challenge because I really enjoyed the Blue Like Jazz book & am truly excited to see the movie. I have already promoted A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, & even promoted Don Miller's work from the pulpit (look for me, Chris Jimenez from 02-05-2012)! So passing out a few fliers is not going to kill me.

Here are the screen-shots of what I have done so far! BTW, I have a Tumblog too...
Facebook Like

Facebook Post

Twitter Follow

Retweet

 And, of course, I am now blogging about it.

More Reading
If you want to read some more about morphing into what God wants you to be, read these posts!

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Craig Fritchey & the 7 Cs

Tweeting Time Again
The Premise
This is a recap of last night's message. It goes along with yesterday's post Simple & Easy. Basically, we discussed that reading of God's Word should be a priority in our lives. Note: reading the Bible is different than studying it. What was discussed last night was simply reading the Bible for edification & pleasure, not cross-referencing & bringing in extra-biblical resources etc.. This is just about reading.

The Quotes
What the Bible is About
 The Bible is about Jesus Christ. The references above show that the Old Testament as a whole points to Jesus. This makes sense as Christians hold that Jesus was the coming Messiah of the Jews. Remember while reading the OT: there is something there that points to Jesus.

How We Know God
 Also remember that the Bible's most basic purpose is to reveal God to us. C. S. Lewis discussed whether it is better to experience God in the wilderness or in the Bible, and he concluded that the experience in the wilderness is probably the closest to God that one can get. But, Lewis compared the wilderness/Bible to the beach/map. If one goes to the beach, they get an experience of the ocean that is concrete and real, but in order to get across the ocean to a destination, they will need a map. The map is necessary for nautical exploration, even though it is decidedly less real.

Why We Read
There is a reason why we should read every day. That reason is not to stroke our ego or make God happy with our obedience to a maniacal will. The reason is to build ourselves up in faith. The more we read, the more confident we can be in the things we believe. Conversely, we can also correct those things we believe that do not jive with scripture.

The Seven C's
Craig initially stated that there were five Cs, but then he threw two extras in at the end. I like the ring that the 7 C's has, so I'm sticking with these:

  1. Content
  2. Chronology
  3. Context
  4. Congruence
  5. Clarity
  6. Confirmation
  7. Confidence
These are the benefits we reap when reading God's Word. Note: these are not things we look for in the sense that we are actively trying to find verses that give us chronology or confirmation, they are things that are simply gathered by reading. In other words, they are subconsciously absorbed. In even more spiritual words, the Holy Spirit reinforces the Word of God in our lives. By having the 7 Cs, we can rightly divide the Word of God.


Your Turn
Remember, you can join in the discussion by tweeting #BTSermon if you are ever in the Bible Truth Meeting. Also, if you read this and want to comment on it in public you can do so by leaving a comment or tweet #BTSermon and link to this article! C'mon, jump into the conversation!

More Reading
Read the previous post that was linked in the first section and is linked again shamelessly here. There is a list for even more reading appended to that page.
Christopher M. Jimenez. Powered by Blogger.

Mailing List