I have been wanting to do this for a long time. In light of yesterday’s sad events involving steroids, I want to turn my attention to one of the brightest spots in baseball over the last nearly twenty years, Craig Biggio. So, in honor of Craig Biggio’s stellar career with the Astros, this week’s Friday Shout Out goes out to Craig Biggio. Read the rest of this entry »
This week’s Friday Shout Out goes out to Matt Judkins, one of the youngest, brightest, and most promising pastors in the United Methodist Church. (Matt did not pay me anything to say that.) I got to know Matt at local pastor’s licensing school, when I talked his ear off one night until past our bed times. It was a great conversation and I have enjoyed getting to know Matt better ever since.
Matt, you know the drill, you have all day to shout back. I would be interested to know what your thoughts are about the current state of the United Methodist Church. What causes you concern, and what brings you the most hope? You don’t have to answer this question, the mic is yours. Just, please bring my batting average up to .400! (Friday Shout Out is currently 1 for 4.)
Edit: I forgot to include a link to Matt’s blog Catching Meddlers. You should definitely check it out! I subscribe to it in Google Reader.
Friday shout out is 1 for 3 in its infancy. But we are going to keep at it! Today’s Friday Shout Out goes out to Craig Groeschel, senior pastor of LifeChurch.tv a multi-campus church that began in Oklahoma and is now growing into other parts of the country. Craig is not afraid to take risks in order to do a new thing in the name of the Lord.
As a reminder, here is how this works: Craig, if you find this post, you are invited to shout back! It is really that simple. I would be particularly interested, if you have the time or inclination, to get your thoughts on how the church can encourage the development of meaningful community and “watching over one another in love” through things like small group accountability. Is there anything you have seen work particularly well, or anything that you have found to be an inhibitor to developing intimacy and walking with other Christians in our faith? (You don’t have to answer this question, how you shout back is entirely up to you.)
Ok, the mic is yours…
Today’s Friday Shout Out goes out to Rob Bell. Rob Bell is the founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church. He is also the author of two great books, Velvet Elvis and Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections between Sexuality and Spirituality. These are important enough contributions to the Church in their own right, but where I have seen Rob Bell have the most impact is through his Nooma videos. These videos are 10-15 minutes in length and deal with some amazing topics. We have used these some in youth group and they seem to really speak to our youth. The videos have led to some of the best conversations and discussions that we have had.
So, I want to lift up these great resources, and say thank you. You have helped the gospel begin to soak into the lives of the youth of our church.
Rob, if you get this, all you have to do is shout back! I would be very interested in hearing what you are up to and how you are experiencing God at work in the church.
Today’s “Friday Shout Out” goes out to Andrew Conard. Andrew is the only person that I went to seminary with who has made the trip to visit me in Lamont. Granted, he also probably lives about 1,000 miles closer to me (Andrew is an associate pastor at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, in Leawood, KS) than any of my other friends from seminary!
Andrew is also largely the reason that this blog exists. Andrew, you have all day to Holla’ back. I would be very interested to hear your thoughts, if you have the chance to respond, on whether you have found blogging to be a serious ministry tool or primarily a fun way to express your thoughts and ideas and connect with other pastors. Or both. You are free to express any other thoughts that you might have. The microphone is yours.
Edit: I forgot to include a link to Andrew’s blog “Thoughts of Resurrection.” Sorry for the bad blogging etiquette…
We are going to start out the first ever Friday Shout Out ambitiously. Today’s Shout Out goes out to Brian McLaren. He has a new book out, Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope. I believe that he is currently on a book tour, so I am not sure how much internet access he currently has.
Nevertheless, this Friday Shout Out goes out to Brian McLaren. I found Brian’s discussion of the contribution that the Wesleyan movement has made to the church very interesting and helpful in A Generous Orthodoxy.
Brian, you have all day to shout back. All you have to do is leave a comment that shows you stopped by deeply committed.
Starting tomorrow I am going to introduce a new feature called “Friday Shout Out.” Here’s how it works. I will give a shout out to someone in the blogosphere, and they have all day to find the post and then respond to it, and shout back. That’s pretty much it. Just something fun for Friday. So, be ready - you might be the next one to get a shout out!
