To be frank, I'm not sure how this team of people will help the top person's ministry, but in order for them to fulfill this role, they need to move to where this person is. And that unsettles me.

I'm already uncomfortable when a bunch of Christians get together and try to form a church or ministry. Neil Cole, a church planting guru, says that two Christians are really all you need to start a ministry. The rest of the group  should come from new converts in the local area of the ministry.

So, is it good and helpful to import workers for the ministry? Should they only come from the immediate vicinity of the ministry? I understand the missionary teams sometimes go out, but is bringing enough people along with you so as to constitute a legitimate congregation going too far?

I'm just thinking out loud here. It seems like something else may work better, but I have not planted anything from scratch, I've only worked with ministries after the planting.

Technorati Tags: ministry - plant - church

So what does this mean? Some will just pass by the article. Others will scratch their heads and say "Tagging? What the heck is that about?" These will look to Google or Wikipedia for answers, sign up with Technorati, spend hours trying to integrate a plug in for their fledgling blogs, spend another hour setting up a del.icio.us account (that is, if they can spell it and therefore find it), spend even more time inventing tags that are useless or incorrect, and then rewrite all of their tags wondering if all of this hard work was for naught.

After a few weeks they'll have the del.icio.us firefox plug in worked out, they've integrated a technorati plug in for their blog or blog editor, and can actually type out "d-e-l-.-i-c-i-o-.-u-s" with barely a thought.

Sure we have a mess of sloppy tags all over the place, but a new tagger has been born, the world's information is just a little more organized and connected, and uptight tagging geeks with too much time on their hands breath a collective sigh of relief.

Technorati Tags: tags - del.icio.us - technorati - bbc

While reading about the "Stonehenge's Twin" this morning, I noticed a little quote in the sidebar:

"It appears there may have been an orchestrated campaign to mislead the public about climate change."  ? CONGRESSMAN HENRY WAXMAN

What? Is he serious?

Yes, he is.

I find this so disheartening because our abuse of the environment boils down to greed and lifestyle choices. We have the technology, we have the ability, we have the money, we're just unwilling to take the steps. Somebody, somewhere opposes climate change legislation because it will cut into profits, take away from the second home's mortgage, or threaten a yacht.

Finding clean energy isn't so hard. Efficiency is even easier. Vermont is moving toward "cow power," which creates electricity through the methane produced by cow manure. It solves a lot of problems all at once. Our entire home, that is filled with energy efficient bulbs, is powered by cows.

For now we are afflicted with reports concerning this administrations deception of the public. First WMD, now the environment, what's next?

Technorati Tags: white+house - climate+change - energy - efficiency

14:12 He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you host a dinner or a banquet, don’t invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors so you can be invited by them in return and get repaid.
14:13 But when you host an elaborate meal, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.
14:14 Then you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (NET Bible)

Now I'm not an expert at ministering to the poor, but from what I've done, it's my view that anyone with warm-hearted notions of nobly feeding the poor is in for a shock. It's hard work that involves far more than just putting food on a plate.

Ministry to the poor has always left me with a notion that I am way out of my depth. Nevertheless, those with prior experience in this area have always helped solved problems and prepared me to be more effective.

And so I'm wondering, who should prepare the church for ministry to the poor? Seminaries? Snicker, snicker. The local church? More likely. If we have any hope of effectively ministering to the poor at all, the church needs experts with experience to lead the way forward. We can't just jump into this ministry.

Lack of preparation means all involved are in for a disappointment. In addition, proper training will actually help those who would be otherwise indifferent get into the mix.

The other part of Luke 14 concerns the cost of following Jesus and the duty of disciples to consider it carefully. Besides the obvious reference to our blunders in the Iraq war, Jesus made it very clear that all who would follow have some serious considering to do:

14:28 For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t sit down first and compute the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 14:29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish the tower, all who see it will begin to make fun of him. 14:30 They will say, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish!’ 14:31 Or what king, going out to confront another king in battle, will not sit down first and determine whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 14:32 If he cannot succeed, he will send a representative while the other is still a long way off and ask for terms of peace. 14:33 In the same way therefore not one of you can be my disciple if he does not renounce all his own possessions.

Does that sound like any of the evangelism practices we have been taught? "Take your time, think it over, don't rush into this, it's a very hard and costly way of life. Don't take it lightly." Hmmmm. I think we've always strayed toward the, "Jesus is wonderful and he'll fill you love, joy, peace, and hope, why wait?"

You can't candy coat the cross.

Technorati Tags: Jesus - disciple - cross - poor

This is a perfect example God's love and grace at work. Any one pondering, struggling with, or wanting to learn more about Christianity and homosexuality should start with his post. Even if you don't agree with his conclusions, the spirit and the tone of the post are very much in line with the ways of Christ.

Technorati Tags: homosexuality - christianity

The key for me is to build momentum through writing. Just starting to write something is the key. That is something you can build on. I share how I've been doing it at edcyz.com.

Technorati Tags: writing - fiction - creative - non-fiction

Bush makes me a little nervous because he doesn't always seem all that sharp. That could be an act, but Cheney appears as secretive, mean, pompous, and dare I say . . . evil.

Let's forget who's in what party for a minute. If anyone in government is acting as pompous and secretive as our Vice President, the people have a duty to be concerned. If he puts on such an act during prime time TV, what the heck is he like behind closed doors? Shudder, shudder.

I've heard that this administration is the most secretive in recent memory. Now I believe it. And I'm very, very worried. Though we have less than 2 years left with it.

Surely there isn't enough time to invade another country . . .

Technorati Tags: Vice+President - Cheney - interview - Blitzer

He's actually a tan/gray minirex with fairly large, perky ears. This is what we wrote to Julie's folks last night about him:

"We picked up our new bunny today. We named him Evan. He's insane. We let him go this evening during bunny prime time hours and he ran ALL OVER THE HOUSE!!! He didn't stop. Just a bunny blur. He has the attention span of an insect. He has rabbit A.D.D. He is definitely a teenager bunny with poor litter habits (i.e. none).

It was war with Eva who worked very hard to chomp his nose off through the cage. She got two tufts of hair from Evan's side and hung on to them like a little victory flag. Much grunting, scratching, biting, pooping, scenting, and running back and forth. We took a video that we'll have to post tomorrow. Evan doesn't sit still yet." 

You can watch what happened when we let Eva lose. She went right up to his cage . . . and tried to kill him.

Of course things got even more lively when we locked up Eva and turned Evan loose. He was awfully curious about this rabbit who kept rattling her cage and trying to bite him on the nose! He'll learn.

For now we will keep them separate and then gradually bring them together, let them fight a little, and help them get used to one another. They'll be best of friends in a month or two . . . we hope.

Technorati Tags: rabbits - minirex - bunny

First of all, state employees in the Bennington office started coming down with a rare respiratory condition: sarcoidosis. Sounds menacing.

Someone chose to move in these modular offices, but they were not the right fit for courts and the DOC, so they had to renovate some of them. Others had to be gutted because they mold.

All the while a local developer had offered some downtown office space, but that deal was shoved under the carpet. Now everyone's scrambling to figure out what the heck happened with that and why it wasn't considered.

So now the poor employees are either in moldy modulars or a dangerous building while the politicians and town officials try to cover their tracks. Some are working to get this mess sorted out, but it has dragged on for far too long.

I dread looking at the front page of the Bennington Banner. I know what's going to be there.

Technorati Tags: bennington - vermont - state