questions about authentic Biblical community

I have questions and I would like to get feedback from anyone who reads this blog. Please leave me a comment or email me if you don’t want others reading your thoughts. Here’s my questions…

• Should people have to attend the same church to be in a small group together?
• What are the potential positives and negatives of small groups being made up of people from different churches?
• What is gained and what is lost by Christians all going to the same Sunday gatherings?
• Do you have to attend a Sunday gathering each week with people to be known and loved by them?
• Can we be intimately involved with people and not sit with them each Sunday?
• Is Sunday morning really a ‘group’ worship event or is it really an ‘individual’ event for large groups of individuals (meaning – is there more than an individual benefit to church attendance on Sundays beyond everyone hearing the same message or announcements)
• How representative are ’same church only’ based small groups of the universal church that will be gathering and worshipping at the throne of Christ someday in heaven?
• Does a small group cease to be missional if all its people are not going to the same church?

Please respond or add a question. Don’t just read this post. Interact with it. Use Scripture where ever possible. Thanks.

Pastors should be blogging

Only 10 percent of churches nationwide have links to or have created their own faith blog, according to Ken Gosnell, a Washington-based pastor and lecturer who is writing a book on church blogging. – “Local pastors tentative about blogging” (read the entire article here)

It seems like many pastors don’t take blogging very seriously as a form of communication or teaching. I would disagree with that ideology. I think blogs have tremendous potential for the people in and on the fringe of our churches, but we have to lead them into discovering that potential.

In my local community blogging is not the phenomenon that it is in other places but that doesn’t mean it is of no value. The fact that almost all of the middle school and high school students use MySpace.com and Facebook.com, should make it essential for youth pastors to have great websites and blogs. And, while on the whole, adults here are not as computer literate or savvy as their kids, we shouldn’t write them off. We have to educate our people on what a blog is and why reading ours would be beneficial to them. And then we need to say it and point people there over and over again.

Desiring God Conference

I would really like to get over to the Desiring God Conference this weekend and listen to Timothy Keller, Mark Driscoll and John Piper. The problem is that it is sold out.

Does anybody know anyone with extra tickets?

Rumors

Check out the article I wrote for the latest Prodigal Son magazine. It’s a short feature called Rumors. You can read it by clicking here. I’d love to hear your feedback. Peace.

The relationship between Terrel Owens, Jesus and You and Me

I read this headline today and it didn’t surpise me but I was saddened by it: Police report: Owens hospitalized after suicide attempt

Terrell Owens is one of the most dramatic, talented and out-spoken players in the NFL. The size, speed and skill he brings to the WR position is almost unmatched by anybody else in the league today. His flamboyance and antics make him exciting, surprising and unpredictable; he is not only a remarkable talented athlete but a gifted entertainer as well.

The problem is that T.O. is always trying to gain others approval by making himself look special. He has no inner confidence. It is my belief (which may or may not be confirmed by the headline above) that all his showmanship is an attempt to avoid feeling alone or empty. At the core of who he is -when he is off the field and out of the public eye – deep down at the soul level, T.O. is longing for something that fame and fortune can never provide. He needs Jesus Christ and he needs to come to grips with the person he is in God’s eyes rather than in the world’s. Until he does that, no contract or football game or anything will bring him the kind of satisfaction that he is seeking.

In many ways T.O. is a lot like me and you. We don’t have the platform or the money or the physical skills that he has, but we are all seeking fulfillment in something. And if we want to be whole we have to seek Jesus, nothing else will ever be enough.

*Update: T.O. says he wasn’t attemting suicide but that he was having a reaction with his pain meds and the supplements he takes. Maybe…but maybe not.

remembering Grandma

Today I had the privilege of sharing a few words at my grandma’s funeral. She was a wonderful Christian woman who overflowed with the love of Jesus in everything she did. It was a blessing to me to hear the stories of others in the room who knew and loved my grandma. She touched many lives and represented Jesus well during her time on earth. Thank you for your prayers.

If you would like to read what I spoke I’d be happy to email you a copy of the text. Please contact me by email at brentonbalvin(at)hotmail(dot)com.

Torii Hunter, the Twins and baseball

Sure he takes some wild crazy swings that leave the fans saying, “What in the world was he thinking!”

But check out these stats of Torii Hunter…

Torii Hunter hit another home run Monday, giving him 15 in his last 36 games, since Aug. 18 and 30 on the season, a personal record. Apparently inside the dome, when it rains, it pours. Hunter joins Justin Morneau (who hit his 34th later Monday) as Twins players with at least 30 homers this year. Before this, the Twins had not had a player with at least 30 home runs since 1987, when Gary Gaetti, Tom Brunansky and Kent Hrbek all did it. The only team that has not had a pair of 30-homer players since the Twins last did it is the Royals, who last did it in 1985 (George Brett and Steve Balboni).

The only major league player with as many home runs as Hunter since Aug. 18 is Ryan Howard who has 16. No one else has more than 13 over that time. – from ESPN

This has been one of the most exciting baseball/Twins seasons that I can remember. Four months ago everyone was riding the Twins off and debating whether to trade Hunter and start rebuilding the club. Now we’re headed to the play-offs. Sweet!

come on’ think about others please

The restaurant I manage closes at 10 pm. A family if 3 came in at 9:35 pm, stayed and ate, and now they just left. Its 10:21 pm. All I want to do is leave and go home to see my wife. Now I’m twenty five minutes late on our movie date. When you go out to eat, please think about the people working. If you get to a place towards closing time, that’s fine, just be courteous and don’t slow poke around when there are clear indication that the place is closing. That’s all. Just think about somebody else for a couple minutes. Thanks.

Thomas Kelly on evangelism

Too long we have supposed that we must carry the banner of religion, that is was our concern. But religion is not our concern; it is God’s concern. Our task is to call people to “be still, and know that I am God,” to hearken to that of God within them, to invite, to unclasp the clenched fists of self-resolution, to be pliant in His firm guidance, sensitive to the inflections of the inner voice.

- Thomas Kelly, August 1938, from ‘Excerpts from the Richard Cary Lecture’ in The Eternal Promise

one reason I like blogs

Blogging has provided new avenues for companies and consumers to communicate. Today I got this comment on a post I wrote a couple weeks ago:

Hey, thanks for linking to our client, Crossings Church! If you ever need web or print design yourself, check us out at valestudios.com.

I went to the Vale Studios website and I liked it. I especially liked the fact that they’ve included some quotes on their homepage that have been gathered from around the blog-o-sphere regarding their design work. It is cool to see a company grow and get noticed on the free word of mouth marketing that blogging provides. It is also cool that Vale Studios is reading blogs and thanking people for the pub, as well as returning the favor by promoting those blogs on their homepage.