Here are some miscellaneous links, thoughts, and resources I’ve been collecting for a while. Some (like the sermon and a few outreach ideas) are quite serious. Another (the Wordle of Ephesians) is fascinating, I think. And others (including a shocking article about a Florida friend, a thought about HomeSat, and a “you might be a fundamentalist” link) are just for fun.
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Doran’s Message from the 2008 FBF Conference
If you’ve not yet heard “Biblical Separation and Fundamentalism,” Dave Doran’s message on separation from the recent FBF conference, you need to give it a listen. He affirms the importance of biblical separation. However, rather than preaching a message which would merely draw “attaboys” from the already convinced separatist crowd, Doran posed thoughtful questions regarding the application of separatist principles in ministry today. I was encouraged by the message. Good stuff.
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“First the Church, Now the Building”
By God’s grace, we’re progressing through the excavation phase of our building program and awaiting building department approval of our finished and stamped plans. Since we’ve been overdue for a new church brochure, we’ve decided to use the building project (which is drawing attention in our small town) as an opportunity to communicate the gospel. Here’s a pdf of our new brochure, TCBC: Hard Hat Area. It includes a simple gospel message (that, BTW, is more of a narrative than those we’ve used in the past). The brochure “debuts” Thursday night as we participate in a community parade, where we will have a building-going-up float, construction hats, and these t-shirts (front and back):
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Gospel CD Text
Speaking of gospel resources, a friend asked a while back if he could use/adapt the “script” from our Gospel CD project, “How Sinners Can Be Right with God.” Absolutely! That simple and inexpensive project has given the members of TCBC a great resource to distribute to friends and family members. I highly recommend that other churches work on recording something similar. If this helps, here’s a PDF of our Gospel CD text. Just realize that it was intended to be recorded, not printed, and that we made some very slight adjustments from this text (which I’ve not taken the time to alter). Use it!
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Wordle of the Book of Ephesians
I took a break from my sermon preparations late Saturday night to see what a “Wordle” of the book of Ephesians would look like. What is a Wordle? The Wordle site defines itself this way:
“Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text.”
The fact that the picture shows the actual emphasis of the text makes the following Wordle of Ephesians (NKJV) both instructive and beautiful, I think.
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“You might be a fundamentalist if…”
This thread at Sharper Iron cracks me right up. It’s a fun look at the idiosyncrasies of fundamentalists, generally pointed out (I think) by convinced fundamentalists. When you need a laugh and have some downtime, give it a look.
(HT: Mark)
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RIP, HomeSat
I’ve already switched to BJUP’s hard drive option for homeschooling. However, several friends of mine are a bit distressed that HomeSat’s days are numbered. I’m wondering: what if a bunch of customers and former customers start an online petition (say, please-reconsider.org?) and try to persuade them to change their minds? Maybe this could end with an announcement of a change of policy on Larry King Live! :)
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“Meet the Press,” Andrew
Finally, my good friend Andrew Henderson is planting Grace Baptist Church in New Tampa, FL. The church recently got some free face time with this nice article in the Tampa Tribune. Here’s a (rather disappointing) sample of what Andrew was able to say:
“We aren’t…here to focus on the Lord, to worship him and to exalt him.”
“Most members…feel comfortable. It isn’t about…worship with all our hearts.”
“Hope is…suffering here.”
“Worship is not…about God! We invite you to worship with us in a loving, traditional atmosphere that centers on exalting…ourselves.”
“We live in a day where people want…us.”
“It’s not…[o]ur goal…to see folks come to Christ, to grow in Christ and in their walk with God.”
If you’re shocked, give it a read yourself. :)
Filed under: Fundamentalism, Ministry Musings, Ministry Resources, Mp3's, Sermons, Snickers, TCBC Building Program, The Gospel | Tagged: Dave Doran, Fundamentalism, Gospel CD, Separation, The Gospel, Tri-County Bible Church, Wordle of Ephesians |
My Two Cents 
[…] HT […]
Lest there be any confusion, I’m just busting Andrew Henderson’s chops with my strategic use of the ellipsis (…). It’s actually a nice article which I hope will point people in the Tampa area to a great church.
My husband has great memories of being classmates with Andy. I am referring my brother in Riverside, FL, to this article, as they are searching for a church. Thanks for the heads-up.
Can’t wait until the startup of Henderson-Anderson University.
The Tampa Tribune actually printed the article twice. The first time was in Wednesday’s Northeast edition (for the northeast corner of Hillsborough County) where Grace Baptist Church is located, and then again on Saturday in its Pasco edition. We draw members from both counties. And no, we’re not going to rename the church BiCounty Baptist….
We’re praising the Lord for the free publicity. We had two new families visit on Sunday as a direct result of those articles.
ps. There would never be a dull moment at Hyles-Anderson, I mean, Henderson-Anderson University. (Since the cat is away on vacation this week, the mice will play….)
The cat still has internet access. Apparently a mini-series on repentance was not enough to stop making fun of me, Paul. I am going to have to up the ante a bit (if the gambling term offended anyone, my apologies).
Great. Nice article, Chris. Now I am probably going to have an FBF Resolution passed against me. Thanks. Pal.
Of course, if there ever was a Henderson-Anderson (I like the order, by the way; well done, Pearson) University, there would be a whole major in Junior High Boys Humor.
Diane,
Say ‘hello’ to Patrick for me. I just knew, despite what so many were telling me, that at least one person had to have fond memories of being in college with me.
If your brother has any questions, have him give me a call at 813.470.8104. Have a great day.
You are welcome, Andy, and I will pass on your greetings. Boy, after this you are going to be in need of one of those “pastor appreciation threads” on SI. =)
Thanks for the info. I’ll let Tom know (and he is in Riverview, btw–long day yesterday)…he is registrar at Clearwater.
May our great God bless your work there richly.
Mr. Henderson, my bet is that only a few people were offended by the gambling vernacular. But to be on the safe side, I’d take my chips off the table and stick with a non-gambling nomenclature in the future. Thanks.
jjones,
I am no handicapper, but I would wager that is good advice. Thanks for the run-down.
Chris,
Nice job on the article editing. Maybe you could work some of that magic while reporting the last few Indian games! :)
BTW, I like your building flyer. Lately I have been having some great discussions with a few JW’s that keep stopping in unexpectedly, and your first point is really hitting home right now.
I will pray for you and your member’s sanctification during the process of building. These are exciting times!
I’m just getting back in town from a few days away, and the comments on this thread are cracking me right up. I’m picturing a ministry team from HAC—a stand-up comedy team, not drama or music, mind you—in which some student would put on a cheesy grin and introduce himself:
“Hi, I’m Josh, and I’ll graduate next year with my B.A. in “Junior High Humor” with a minor in “YouTube Ministries.”
Beautiful.
If anyone posting here ever has an opportunity to be in Madison, Ohio, you really need to experience TCBC. My wife and I enjoyed the ministry very much. One caveat though, Chris had Tim Bixby in the pulpit that Sunday morning. :( though Tim’s insight on Jonah and the Sovereignty of God was very good! We were actually looking forward to hearing Chris preach.
Chris, the NEXT time we come, we HOPE we actually hear you in person (and not on SermonAudio®)! :)
BTW, the “You might be a Fundamentalist” thread on Sharperimage.ugg…um, I mean Sharper Iron is dead on funny stuff!