(As always, links are offered for thought and entertainment; no endorsement implied. Tim)
11 Stats That Will Change the Way You Think About Consumerism
The day-after-Thanksgiving tradition has become it’s {sic} own sort of consumption holiday, with some shoppers leaving their turkey dinners to line up the night before for a chance to save a few hundred dollars on a product they might even already own.
On the biggest shopping day of the year, we decided to look at some of the numbers to show just how powerful American’s obsession with consumption really is.
By complementarianism, I mean the view that men and women are equal as God’s fellow image bearers, but nonetheless have some differences of role in the church and in the home. The way I like to put it is equal, but not interchangeable. In other words, you cannot simply swap male and female in and out of different roles without any consequence; nor are the differences between male and female mere matters of anatomy. There are some fundamental, structural, psychological differences as well (though they are never matters of better or worse).
How Elisabeth Elliot Made Me a Complementarian
All three persons are equal in value, yet have different roles. This was key for me being able to embrace my differing role as a woman. God values me just as much as a man, but has a different role for me in this world. “Equal in value, different in role” was something I had never before considered. Elisabeth helped me to see the beauty of God’s complementary design instead of seeing it as a competitive relationship. Adam and Eve, both image bearers, reflected God in their differing roles. She helped me to embrace the calling for men to be the initiators, while women respond.
How to Help Those in Need (Without Treating Them Like Beggars)
We need to ask the question, “Is the work we do on the ground truly significant work?” We need to ask, “Whose agenda is our mission really about?” And then we need to ask, “Are we really enabling folks to move out of poverty?” The reality is that in most cases we’re not. We’re deepening dependency instead.
The only thing that moves a person out of poverty is a job. That’s it. So the next question we need to ask is, “Are we facilitating the creation of jobs that enable people to move out of poverty?” The answer is no, we’re not. And it’s because we’re taking the wrong people on mission trips. Rather than taking “servers,” we need to take job creators and business people. Instead of taking mission trips, we need to take investment trips.
To Close or Revitalize: That Is the Question—7 Steps to Know
A reality that we face today is how to know when a local church is a good candidate for revitalization or for closing. In determining best practices for a church to carry out its mission, leaders must answer the following question: will more people be reached for Christ by keeping this church open and leading it through a revitalization process or by closing it and investing those resources in another ministry that is bearing Kingdom fruit?
Seeking objectivity for this discussion, I conducted several months of research to discover what criteria would help church leaders make this decision in a Godly and objective manner.
‘Doo Doo the Clown’ saves women from violent attacker
Shane Farberman, also known as “Doo Doo the Clown”, noticed a shirtless man jumping over cars and pushing pedestrians, so he decided to investigate in his Hummer. He then witnessed the man violently confronting two women in an alley and was able to pull them into the vehicle and drive them to safety.
After Faberman was able to rescue the women and call 911, the man attempted to break into the vehicle, knocking off one of the side view mirrors.